The word "liberal," if in its Anglo-Norman and Middle French etymological sense, can be applied to a grandparent generous in giving their favorite grandson an over-the-top graduation present, such as a car. It can describe a person open to new behavior or opinions or an individual who is willing to be open-minded and not beholden to conventional wisdom. In education, being liberal has positive connotation, because it means the student is a person striving to expand his experience and understanding. It means he is willing to go beyond rote exercises of memorization and is expansive in his willingness to learn. The Oxford English Dictionary ("OED ) defines "liberal  primarily as "Free in giving; generous, magnanimous  (OED). The etymology set forth is: "Anglo-Norman and Middle French . . . free in giving, generous, benevolent, magnanimous (12th cent. in Old French), suitable for a free or noble person (c1200; especially of studies, education, arts, professions), independent, unconstrained (14th cent.), (of the will) free (14th cent.), of noble birth (14th cent.), (with reference to the ancient world) free, not servile (late 14th cent.), speaking freely (c1480)   (OED, emphasis added). Liberal is a word with a wonderful definition, right? After all, what could be negative about being magnanimous, generous, open to learning new things, and even better, new thought processes? Wouldn't any mother want her son or daughter to grow up to be liberal? The answer is, more than half of the United States not only does not want their child to be liberal, but the mere utterance of the word raises their blood pressure to stroke range. In fact, no matter how certain dictionaries may define the word "liberal,  its meaning has been hijacked by political rhetoric, and not in the positive sense originally associated with the word. A historical overview is beneficial to the first kind of negative connotation found in the use of the word. Liberal