Actually, "normalcy" and "normality" entered the English language at approximately the same time.  However, by the time Warren G. Harding (not Hoover, and not Truman either) ran for president, "normality" was considered "correct" and "normalcy" fell out of favor.

See "A Short History Of The Word 'Normalcy'" at http://www.thirdlion.com/ATM23.html for more information.

This article also contains a scathing critique of Harding's presidency and his lack of English skills.  My favorite tidbit:  "He writes the worst English that I have ever encountered. It reminds me of a string of wet sponges; it reminds me of tattered washing on the line; it reminds me of stale bean soup, of college yells, of dogs barking idiotically through endless nights. It is so bad that a sort of grandeur creeps into it. It drags itself out of the dark abysm of pish, and crawls insanely up the topmost pinnacle of posh. It is rumble and bumble. It is flap and doodle. It is balder and dash."

Art Frank
Manager of Information Systems
OHSU Foundation
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(503) 220-8320

>>> "rosenblatt, joseph" <[log in to unmask]> 12/07/01 09:24AM >>>
<snip>
Last but not least... Normalcy is not a word, thank you Herbert Hoover. The
word is normality.
</snip>

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