the.com/priority
The thing everyone has one of, right before they have twelve.
means The thing judged most important and deserving attention before everything else.
from From Latin prior, 'earlier' or 'former,' the same root that gives us 'prior.' For centuries 'priority' stayed singular in English, because logically only one thing could be *first* — the word was born without a plural, and purists long insisted it should stay that way. Then bureaucracy and ambition got involved, and everyone started needing several 'first' things at once, so usage bent to reality and 'priorities' multiplied, grammar be damned.
- etymology
- from latin prior, meaning first, not favorite
- plural problem
- originally had no plural form until the 1900s
- corporate tell
- if everything is a priority, nothing is