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Joe Manuel posted an update in the group
8 months ago (edited)Knowledge Shared = Knowledge Multiplied “Good to Know”
“Maverick.” Person – Meaning
-A person who takes an independent stand, as in politics, from that of a party or group.
-If you describe someone as a maverick, you mean that they are unconventional and independent, and do not think or behave in the same way as other people.
-Example : Elon Musk is often called a “Maverick American.”
-But where did the name “maverick” come from?
Early in the 1800s, a man named Samuel Augustus Maverick moved to Texas from the eastern United States.
One day a man came to Sam Maverick to pay an old debt. But the man did not have the money he owed. So, he offered Mr. Maverick 400 cattle. Mr. Maverick accepted them. But, he didn’t really want them. He simply turned the cattle loose on his land to eat and care for themselves.
It was not long before the cows reproduced. The calves grew, and had more calves. Soon hundreds of cows and calves moved freely across Sam Maverick’s land. They also moved across the land of nearby ranch owners.
It was a tradition among ranchers in the West to put a mark of ownership on newborn calves. They burned the name of their ranch into the animal’s skin with a hot iron. The iron made a clear mark called a “brand.” Brands allowed ranchers to easily see who owned which cattle.
Sam Maverick refused to brand his calves. Why should he, he asked. If all the other cattle owners branded theirs, then those without a brand belonged to him.
And this is how the word “maverick” got into the American language. It meant a calf without a brand.
As time passed, the word “maverick” took on a wider meaning. It came to mean a person who was too independent to follow even his or her group. Sam Maverick was a maverick in two ways. It was his name, of course. And it described his decision not to follow the tradition of ranchers to brand their cattle.
