origins of "the Villiage"

Greg Sargent at PlumLine : traces the origins of "the Village" or "Villagers" as shorthand for inside-the-beltway media elites. Finds it in a 1998 article by Sally Quinn discussing Lewinsky... similar to Broder's "he trashed the place."

From this description of the Beltway the term “Village” was born. It is believed to have first been used in this fashion by Digby, though I have not yet confirmed this. It was popularized, and is still frequently used, by the blogger Duncan Black, a.k.a. Atrios, as well as other bloggers such as Jane Hamsher, Markos Moulitsas, Glenn Greenwald, and many others.

To these bloggers, Quinn’s description of Washington as a “town” gripped with prudish outrage over the behavior of the rude and common impostor Bill Clinton seemed to capture a larger truth about the Beltway. Thus, to the bloggers, the term “Villagers” refers to the Beltway elite and the kind of small-town insularity, prudishness, clubbiness, status anxiety and addiction to catty gossip that D.C.’s elites are prone to on occasion.

And of course, it has political effects in cementing a center-right consensus.

Habitus? ;)