Last night I was musing while the aforementioned slab of beef was being infused with the smoke of the mesquite tree, and I was struck with what I saw as an amusing false etymology of the word "politics."

1. Poly- is a Greek prefix meaning "many."
2. Ticks are small arachnids that live off the blood of humans and other animals. They often carry and spread disease and are generally nasty little creatures.

So, "politics" refers to a large quantity of blood-sucking, invertebrate vermin that spread disease and misery to their hosts. Probably makes a great deal more sense than the actual etymology.

Apologies if this joke has been done before. It is such an easy joke and on such a popular them, I can't imagine that other people would not have stumbled onto it first.