The unusual etymology of five simple words

This Sunday, I want to share my fascination for the English language. I’ve done it before, of course, but when third waves, winged horses, limping economies and less-than-thrilling Olympics are depressing our spirits, this could be the little boost you need. What I intend is not fiercely cerebral or complicatedly grammatical. Nor does it have anything to do with the illogical pronunciation of the language. It’s about five simple words we probably use every single day: Pretty, tall, silly, naughty, and sad. But it is about their etymology.

Now, it’s not surprising to find that words change their meanings over time. For instance, to be gay today is very different to what that adjective meant in the 1920s. Mummy, as a 90-year-old, would often introduce generals with the line, “We first met when he was a gay young man”. For her, gay was always merry and carefree.

A recent article by Simon Horobin, a professor of English at Oxford, reveals that, when they first came to be popularly used, each of the five words I’ve chosen meant something very different to what it does today. It’s a bit like “disinterested”. We use it to mean not interested. Originally, it meant impartial. Or “fulsome”. Historically, it meant insincere. Today, fulsome praise is taken as a compliment

Tall” in Old English meant swift or active. By the 15th century, it came to mean handsome or elegant. Its usage relating to height began a century later. From there spring its metamorphic extensions to mean large as in “tall order” or exaggerated as in “tall story”.

These changes in meaning may seem surprising but they’re really not. Professor Horobin says, “Several common adjectives that describe physical appearances began life referring to dexterity and pliancy”. “Handsome”, for example, originally meant easy to handle, while “clever” meant dexterous. Believe it or not, “buxom” meant obedient. That’s definitely no longer true!.

Radhey radhey...