Happy New Year! With a new year comes new changes to words and additions to the dictionary. Many words that we use now originally used to mean something quite different; sometimes, the exact opposite. Let’s look at some of the old meanings of words and how they have changed over the years.
Meat
Currently means: The flesh of an animal
Used to mean: Food of any kind
This seems to originate from the Old English word for ‘food’ or ‘article of food’ of German origin, linked to the term sweetmeat.
Modern usage: ‘Ben only eats meat. I think he might get scurvy soon.’
Old usage: ‘Ben only eats meat. What a balanced, healthy diet.’
Fun
Currently means: Enjoyable or amusement
Used to mean: To cheat or hoax
This is from a variant of late Middle English fon, ‘make a fool of’, changing to the new meaning in the 18th century.
Modern usage: ‘The race is supposed to be fun, so we should enjoy ourselves.’
Old usage: ‘The race is supposed to be fun, so I think we’ve been scammed.’
Bully
Currently means: Someone who tries to hurt or intimidate another
Used to mean: A sweetheart or lover of either gender
The use as a term of endearment in the mid-16th century probably stems from Middle Dutch boele meaning lover. It later evolved to be a familiar term for a male friend, before the current usage appeared in the 17th century.
Modern usage: ‘He’s a bully! He keeps hitting that other boy.’
Old usage: ‘He’s my bully, we’re getting married in the spring.’
Bonus middle usage: ‘He’s my bully, we’re off getting drinks later.’
Cute
Currently means: Attractive or endearing
Used to mean: Clever, especially in a shrewd way
The old meaning originated in the 18th century and continued to be used into the 19th. It was a shortening of ‘acute’, which can mean to be particularly perceptive. In fact, ‘cute’ is still listed in the Oxford English Dictionary to mean clever or cunning in informal North American usage, as in ‘a cute idea’.
Modern usage: ‘What a cute kitten! I just want to stroke it.’
Old usage: ‘What a cute kitten! It’s made some excellent arguments in court today.’
Garble
Currently means: To make something confusing or distorted
Used to mean: To sift or separate out impurities
Garble originated in late Middle English from Anglo-Latin and Italian garbellare and Arabic ġarbala, meaning sift.
Modern usage: ‘The recording was garbled. I could hardly understand a word.’
Old usage: ‘The recording was garbled. I’ve never heard such a clear conversation.’
Nervous
Currently means: Easily agitated and alarmed or relating to nerves
Used to mean: Sinewy or strong
The ‘easily agitated’ meaning dates back to the 18th century, with the word nervous relating to nerves originating from the Latin word nervosus, meaning sinewy or vigorous.
Modern usage: ‘She looks very nervous. Maybe she has to do a talk later.’
Old usage: ‘She looks very nervous. Maybe she could help me build my stall.’
Nice
Currently means: Pleasant or kind
Used to mean: Foolish and simple
Nice can also mean a slight or subtle difference in modern usage, while another archaic use listed in the Oxford English Dictionary is fastidious or scrupulous, so these two uses seem to be linked. The original use of foolish comes from the Old French, from Latin nescius, meaning ignorant. Another early use was to mean reserved, which turned into meaning fastidious, then meaning a slight difference. A very interesting history indeed!
Modern usage: ‘He seems nice. He should be good on the team project.’
Old usage: ‘He seems nice. I wish he wasn’t “helping” on the team project.’
Bonus middle usage: ‘He seems nice. I suppose he’ll be organising the team project.’
Awful
Currently means: Very bad or unpleasant
Used to mean: Inspiring wonder or fear
Awful used to literally mean ‘full of awe’ or being worthy of awe, so it is easy to see how the word came about, as well as the phrase ‘the awful majesty of God’. It then narrowed in usage to only refer to bad or unpleasant things worthy of awe!
Modern usage: ‘These speeches are awful. I hope we can go soon.’
Old usage: ‘These speeches are awful. They’re sending shivers down my spine.’
Egregious
Currently means: Particularly or outstandingly bad
Used to mean: Remarkably good
The word egregious originated in the mid-16th century from the Latin egregius, meaning illustrious. The Latin word egregius literally translates to mean ‘standing out from the flock’, from ex ‘out’ and grex ‘flock’. So someone standing out from the others would be remarkably good. The current usage started in the late 16th century, probably as a result of ironic use.
Modern usage: ‘This is an egregious act in the world of politics. I can’t believe they would stoop to such underhand measures.’
Old usage: ‘This is an egregious act in the world of politics. I’ve never seen such excellent negotiation and well-reasoned arguments before.’
Sly
Currently means: Cunning or deceitful
Used to mean: Skilful and wise
The word sly originates from Old Norse slœgr ‘cunning’, originally ‘able to strike’, which in turn stemmed from the verb slá. A link can be seen here with sleight of hand; a dextrous, clever move that needs a quick ‘strike’.
Modern usage: ‘That man is sly. I’m sure he’s trying to con me.’
Old usage: ‘That man is sly. How did he do that magic trick?’
Finally…
Words are complicated things, changing meanings and being rooted in so many languages. They will often change to reflect current usage, such as egregious meaning the exact opposite from ironic use at the time! New words are added as they come into being, while others fall out of modern use and are filed under ‘archaic’ in the dictionary.
I hope that this blog has entertained you. If you would like to read more about different word meanings, I have a blog about commonly confused words here. Happy New Year and have fun writing in 2018!
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