Etymology

diagonalism

D2I1A1G2O1N1A1L1I1S1M3

Today it means: The coming together of antagonistic groups around one issue on which they find common ground, for instance the rejection of vaccination. Full definition →

German Querdenken
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. German · calque ofQuerdenken
  2. English todaydiagonalism

From diagonal + -ism, based on German Querdenken (literally “diagonal thinking”). Coined by Canadian historian and professor Quinn Slobodian and political scientist William Callison in the context of the German Querdenker (“anti-vaxx”) movement during the COVID-19 pandemic, see quotations.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.