Words change meaning over time in ways that might surprise you. We sometimes notice words changing meaning under our noses (e.g., unique coming to mean “very unusual” rather than “one of a kind”) — and it can be disconcerting. How in the world are we all going to communicate effectively if we allow words to shift in meaning like that? The good news: History tells us that we’ll be fine. Words have been changing meaning — sometimes radically — as long as there have been words and speakers to speak them. Here is just a small sampling of words you may not have realized didn’t always mean what they mean today. *Nice: This word used to mean “silly, foolish, simple.” Far from the compliment it is today! *Silly: Meanwhile, silly went in the opposite direction: in its earliest uses, it referred to things worthy or blessed; from there it came to refer to the weak and vulnerable, and more recently to those who are foolish. Anne Curzan ( Language historian English professor Anne Curzan actually encourages her students to use slang in class. A language historian, she is fascinated by how people use words—and by how this changes.) TO READ MORE AND WATCH THE VIDEO WITH SUBTITLES: ideas.ted/2014/06/18/20-words-that-once-meant-something-very-different/
Posted on: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 21:36:02 +0000
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