I've always assumed the TV term "anchor," referring to the host of a newscast, was derived from "anchor," the athlete who runs or swims the last leg of relay race.

I rather liked the idea of Lester Holt or Norah O'Donnell grabbing the baton from a wheezing field correspondent at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time and sprinting to the finish line to win the day for the network news team.

Not so fast, writes Hal Davis of Leslie, Michigan. He explains that, on radio scripts, the abbreviation for "announcer" was "anncr" (pronounced "anchor"). Thus, the studio announcer on both radio and TV newscasts became known as the "anchor." This explanation makes sense, but, to date, I've found no evidence to support it.

A different explanation comes from Mike Conway, a journalism professor at Indiana University. Writing for The Conversation, an online source of scholarly research, he says the term was first used in broadcasting during the late 1940s to describe John Cameron Swayze, the only permanent panelist on the NBC-TV quiz show "Who Said That?" The idea was that Swayze was the anchor who held down the show as other panelists came and went.

Conway explains that "anchor" was used only for Swayze's role on the quiz show, not for his concurrent position as the news announcer for NBC's "Camel News Caravan." The first use of "anchor" to refer to a newscaster came in 1952 when CBS News announced that Walter Cronkite would serve as its "anchor man" for that year's political conventions.

Though the term was used throughout the 1950s to describe the chief reporter on TV news teams covering special events, it wasn't until the 1960s that "anchor" was extended to describe the lead broadcaster on a daily newscast.

Speaking of "anchor," I've always wondered why people who seclude themselves for religious reasons are called "anchorites." Is it because they sink from sight like anchors or because they're the anchors of the church?

Alas, there's only a slight connection between the two words.

As Merriam-Webster's online dictionary points out, "anchorite" derives from the Late Latin word "anchoreta," which in turn came from the Greek "anachorein," meaning "to withdraw." The nautical "anchor" derives from the Latin "anchora," which might have influenced the spelling and pronunciation of "anchorite," but is not a direct ancestor of the word.

Walter Cronkite's last name ended in "ite," but he certainly was no anchorite.

Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Connecticut, invites your language sightings. His book, "Mark My Words," is available for $9.99 on Amazon.com. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via email to WordGuy@aol.com or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254.

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