origin: late Middle English: via Old French from Latin circuitus, from circuire, variant of circumire ‘go around,’ from circum ‘around’ + ire ‘go.’

noun

plural noun: circuits; noun: cir.; noun: circ.

1. A semesterly magazine created by The Whitman Wire’s editorial board and staff
2. A roughly circular route or line that starts and finishes at the same point
3. informal: an established set of venues that typically involve performance

• a group of local Methodist churches forming an administrative unit
• a chain of theaters or nightclubs under one management

4. A closed path of conductors around which a circulating current of electricity can flow

verb

3rd person present: circuits; past tense: circuited; past participle: circuited; gerund or present participle: circuiting; verb: cir.; verb: circ.

1. To move all the way around

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At The Wire we believe that words matter. They carry weight. They can change people and the systems they inhabit. They can be reductive, or excessive, or just enough; they have the potential to be so true that it feels like everything is clicking into place as they are read. Language is how we understand ourselves, how we learn, how we convey that we are in love or upset or would like to please order a California-style burrito to go.

This issue of The Circuit is dedicated to language in every form that it takes. You will read what distinguishes hate speech from free speech and how tattoos can speak for themselves. You can hear our favorite non-english songs and you might even pick up a few flirting tips.

Many thanks to the Associated Students of Whitman College (ASWC), our faculty advisor Julie Charlip, the app Slack, and most of all the overworked staff of The Wire.

With love,

Tywen Kelly and Martina Pansze

Publisher and Editor-in-Chief