Maverick, A Truly American Word

Longhorn cattle wander through the Theodore Roosevelt National Park located in the U.S. state of North Dakota.

Maverick, A Truly American Word

Now, the VOA Learning English program, Words and Their Stories.

Our word today is maverick.

A maverick describes a person who thinks independently. A maverickrefuses to follow the customs or rules of a group to which he or
she belongs. In the U.S., a maverick is often admired for his or her free spirit. Althoughothers who belong to
the mavericks group may not like the mavericksindependent ways.

But where did the name maverick come from?

Early in the 1800s, a man named Samuel Augustus Maverick moved to Texasfrom the eastern United States. Texas was
a place of wide-open land, richsoil, cattle ranches and cowboys. Actually, it still is. But back then, it waseven more so.

Samuel Maverick had just completed law school. He settled down in Texasand became an important landowner and a politician.
In fact, he becamemayor for the city of San Antonio.

As the years passed, Mr. Maverick added to his property in Texas. Beforelong, he owned huge pieces of land good for raising cattle.
But he had nocattle. He wasnt a rancher.

One day a man came to Sam Maverick to pay an old debt. But the man didnot have the money he owed. So,
he offered Mr. Maverick 400 cattle. Mr.Maverick accepted them. But, he didnt really want them.
He simply turned thecattle loose on his land to eat and care for themselves.

It was not long before the cows reproduced. The calves grew, and
had morecalves. Soon hundreds of cows and calves moved freely across SamMavericks 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 onnewborn calves. They burned the name of their ranch into the animals skinwith a hot iron.
The iron made a clear mark called a brand. Brands allowedranchers to easily see who owned which cattle.

Sam Maverick refused to brand his calves. Why should he,

he asked. If all theother cattle owners branded theirs, then those without a brand belonged tohim.

And this is how the word maverick got into the American language. It meanta calf without a brand.

As time passed, the word maverick took on a wider meaning.

It came tomean a person who was too independent to follow even his or her group. SamMaverick was a maverick in two ways. It
was his name, of course. And itdescribed his decision not to follow the tradition of ranchers to brand theircattle.

Sams grandson, Maury, was also a maverick. He was elected to Congress in 1935.

Maury Maverick was a member of the Democratic Party. But he was anindependent thinker. As a Congressman in Washington,
he refused to followhis party. In fact,
he led a group of progressive Democrats who alsodisagreed with party leaders. His group was called The Mavericks, becauseit ref
used to wear the Democratic brand.

Besides politics, you can also find mavericks in popular culture. TheMavericks is
an American professional basketball team from Dallas, Texas.

Dallas Maverick player blocks shot from the Houston Rockets, April 2015. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

In the 1986 movie Top Gun, Tom Cruises character is a fighter pilot namedMaverick who plays by his own rules.
(See movie clip below for an example.)

And a sporty car called the Ford Maverick popular in the 1970s has anameplate that looks like a cow head.

Now, the word is also becoming a popular name for boys in the U.S. In fact,Maverick is my sons middle name.

You have been listening to the VOA Learning English program, Words andTheir Stories.

Im Anna Matteo.

What is the word for maverick in your language? And is it positive ornegative? Do share in the comments section.

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In the scene from the 1986 movie "Top Gun," the pilot who performs a gutsymove is called Maverick.
The instructor criticizes his daring, gutsy flightmoves and suggests a textbook maneuver, the opposite of a maverick one.

:
"Unfortunately, the gamble worked.
The MiG never got a clean shot. Maverickmakes an aggressive vertical move here. Comes over the top and
he defeatsthe Bandit with a missile shot. The encounter was a victory but I think that weve shown it as an example of what not
to do. Next

Gutsiest move I ever saw.

Now then, this is a perfect example of a textbook maneuver ..."

Words From the Movie Dialogue

MiG - Russian fighter jet

gutsiest very tough or brave : showing courage

textbook - very typical

maneuver a movement or series of moves requiring skill and care