lectern • \ˈlek-tərn\ • noun
: desk or stand with a slanted top used to hold a text at the proper height for a lecturer
The word lectern has appeared in 185 New York Times articles in the past year, including on Jan. 11 in “At Clemson, Dabo Swinney Offers Lessons on Football and Life” by Karen Crouse:
PHOENIX — Dabo Swinney stood at the lectern in a suit and tie. His pregame persona was nothing like his postgame alter ego, the “Dance Fever” contestant caught in a 1980s time warp.
Swinney, the coach of the undefeated Clemson Tigers, is known for his fun-loving approach to football, but beneath the frivolity is a philosopher’s bent.
For the Clemson faithful, Saturdays with Dabo are sacrosanct, but it is possible for those who do not worship at the altar of the N.C.A.A. to find meaning in Swinney’s messages, too: In offering up a framework for how to beat his alma mater, Alabama, in Monday’s College Football Playoff championship game, Swinney also supplied a blueprint for life. And if his news conferences here over the weekend had a title, it would be “Hope, Love and Chemistry.”
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