“Explications”

1.   Impeachment

“Appearances are deceptive,” is an old saying, meaning “outward show may mislead one as to the true nature of something”, or, put it in a simpler way, people and things not always are what they seem to be. Impeachment, for example. A less attentive person might perhaps wonder what the hell peach, that delicious fruit, has to do with the formal statement according to which a president is guilty of a serious offense in connection with his or her job, and therefore should be thrown out of office. No, impeachment has nothing to do with peach. Impeachment, once again, comes from the Latin verb impedicare, which means ‘to trap’ or ‘to fetter’. So let's leave peaches out of that mess.

2.   To defenestrate

Defenestrate means ‘to throw someone out of a window.’ Why ‘window’? Because it comes from the Latin verb defenestrare, which, in turn, derives from fenestra, that is, window. It seems that in ancient Rome it was so common to have people thrown out of windows, that it was necessary to create a verb to describe such a cruel custom. Fortunately, most buildings then were not very tall.

As time went by (I love this phrase), defenestrare went through an etymological change, and today nobody thinks of a window when using that verb. For instance: “So it goes with Acting President Michel Temer and Jucá, who it seems conspired to defenestrate Rousseff as a way to avoid scrutiny of their own past conniving.” (http://eaworldview.com/2016/06/brazil-analysis-coup-against-president-rousseff/)

3.   Coup

Unlike the two previous items, the word coup, as far as I know, does not come from Latin. Coup (the correct pronunciation is /ku:/, that is, the final p should be silent) sounds very much like a popular Brazilian swear word. But, as usual, I digress. That politically powerful word comes from French: coup d’État /ku: d@ta/, “a sudden decisive exercise of force in politics; especially :  the violent overthrow or alteration of an existing government by a small group” (Merriam-Webster). Example:

“Speaking to her supporters from the presidential palace after the vote, Rousseff pledged to appeal her impeachment, which she called a parliamentary coup.” (The Guardian, Sept.1, 2016)