The History of Words

It’s been a slow morning. Some of us still have Bank Holidayitis. How about pouring up a coffee and stealing ten minutes to check out the interesting history of words?

Etymology is the study of the roots of our words and how they have changed over the centuries. Some words we use today have fascinating histories. On “babe”:

1393, short for baban (c.1230), which probably is imitative of baby talk, however in many languages the cognate word means “old woman” (cf. Rus. babushka “grandmother,” from baba “peasant woman”). Now mostly superseded by its dim. form baby. Used figuratively for “a childish person” from 1526. Meaning “attractive young woman” is 1915, college slang; related babelicious first recorded 1991.

What other word straddles “old woman” and babelicious? There is brilliance in using words wrapped in contradiction.

May 5th, 2009 at 12:26 pm • Filed in Brainstrobing



Comments

4 Comments to “The History of Words”

  1. Philip Finlay-Bryan Says:
    May 5th, 2009 at 5:46 pm

    Enthusiasm

    First attested from 1603, from Ancient Greek ????????????, from ?????? ‘possessed by a god’, from ??- ‘in’ + ???? ‘god’.



  2. Stan Says:
    May 6th, 2009 at 8:56 am

    It’s a very handy reference, though it can be judgemental, e.g. it describes burgle as “hideous”, which seems a bit harsh.

    For some reason your last paragraph reminds me of Alan Partridge describing Seve Ballesteros.



  3. Alexia Says:
    May 7th, 2009 at 8:42 am

    @Stan: Just made my day! ;)



  4. Stan Says:
    May 7th, 2009 at 9:38 am

    Alexia: I can’t take any credit for that – it’s the ever-powerful Partridge Effect!



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