Words change in this world, as they change this world. Can the word eliminate the world?
The word “vet” is a contraction, a short form in both sound and meaning. My awareness of it goes back to a very different time and use than its reincarnation post 911, when everyone became militant and military wise. No more “presidential,” instead “commander in chief.”

The word is short for veterinarian. The military use was an examination, assuring that the “animal” was ready for combat duty. This dates back to our cavalry ancestors, when the Cav charged into combat on horseback. These horses were well cared and tended. Fed well, for they were key to a quick successful charge and recovery. But horses, specifically stallions, crave more than oats, they crave mares. Sex, for you hot tubers. So, making a horse ready, or “vetting” him, meant to prepare him for combat. Keep his mind on the mission not on the mares. Vet him, was a complete check list, not just a check up, but a rigorous and thorough prep for combat. This included details that did not have to be noted back then, but for this day let us say “jerked off.”

Obviously contractions drop meaning. Words lose some of their meaning. When the task is lost from regular experience, when that task comes from a distant puritanical time, some of the meaning will fade into the shade, blinding us to the subtlety of the military wags who have been so successful at reintroducing us to the glories of “vetting” across every station. Have you had yours today, have you been vetted?

Always scrub after vetting — webionaire