Resigns admid controversy

You gotta love that word “amid.”

Obama adviser Van Jones resigns amid controversy

It’s the headline on an AP article by Will Lester.

I wondered if this was a special locution for Van Jones, in which case I was going to snark about it, or if others had resigned amid controversy as well. So I googled for the phrase, “resigns amid controversy” (with the quotation marks).

It turns out that Van Jones is only the latest of a long line that includes football coaches, politicians, presidents of non-profit organizations, and many more who have also “resigned amid controversy.” But not all resignations come “amid controversy”. Some people resign “in controversy” and some resign “over controversy.” There are also those who resign for personal reasons.

But resigning amid controversy is a big one.