In order to appease the Orange Man and try to regain some of the federal money of which we are entitled, Cornell University has decided to change its logo. The new logo, pictured above,  will last until Inauguration Day, 2028. We certainly hope that this ruse works.

ruse(n.)

early 15c., “the dodging movements of a hunted animal” (a sense now obsolete); 1620s as “a trick, a stratagem, an artifice,” from Old French ruse, reuse “diversion, switch in flight; trick, jest” (14c.), a noun from reuser “to dodge, repel, retreat; deceive, cheat,” which is from Latin recusare “make an objection against; decline, refuse, reject; be reluctant to” (see recuse; also compare rush (v.)).

It also has been proposed that the French word may be from Latin rursus “backwards,” or a Vulgar Latin form of refusare. Johnson calls it, “A French word neither elegant nor necessary.”

The verb ruse was in Middle English (rusen), mid-14c. as “drive (someone) back in battle,” also “retreat, give ground, withdraw;” late 14c., of game animals “travel so as to elude pursuit.” The noun also was used in Middle English in the sense of “roundabout course taken by a hunter in pursuit of prey.”