Next time someone call you NICE …. you just might want to ask them what they mean by that .. : ) Word History Five hundred years ago, when nice was first used in English, it meant foolish or stupid. This is not as surprising as it may seem, since it came through early French from the Latin nescius, meaning ignorant. By the 16th century, the sense of being very particular or finicky had developed. In the 19th century, nice came to mean pleasant or agreeable and then respectable, a sense quite unlike its original meaning. Eight Words Which Have Completely Changed Their Meaning Over Time Artificial This originally meant ‘full of artistic or technical skill’. Now its meaning has a very different slant. Nice This comes from the Latin ‘not to know’. Originally a ‘nice person’ was someone who was ignorant or unaware. Awful This meant ‘full of awe’ i.e. something wonderful, delightful, amazing. However, over time it has evolved to mean exactly the opposite. Brave This once was used to signify cowardice. Indeed, its old meaning lives on in the word ‘bravado’. Manufacture From the Latin meaning ‘to make by hand’ this originally signified things that were created by craftsmen. Now the opposite, made by machines, is its meaning. Counterfeit This once meant a perfect copy. Now it means anything but. Prove Originally this meant to test. The old meaning survives in the phrase ‘proving ground’. Tell Its original meaning was ‘to count’. Which is how we came by the term ‘bank teller’. writinghood/style/grammar/eight-words-which-have-completely-changed-their-meaning-over-time/
Posted on: Fri, 01 Nov 2013 12:28:57 +0000
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