# Common words that used to have other meanings **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 4, 2023, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-that-used-to-have-other-meanings/977656 "2023-01-04T14:07:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2023, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-that-used-to-have-other-meanings/977656/21 "2023-01-04T17:02:40Z")
Oh, yes, in the U.S. we use the phrase “It’s a living” in just the same way. It usually implies a job that isn’t particularly exciting or interesting, but is at least honest work and provides enough money to pay the bills. But you can use it about any type of job in any field. Austen seems to use it exclusively when talking about ecclesiastical positions, which seems slightly different. Or, what **Treppenwitz** just said. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2023, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-that-used-to-have-other-meanings/977656/22 "2023-01-04T17:07:06Z")
> [@themapleleaf](#): > > Point taken. To be frank, I wonder if more examples couldn’t be found where a word that seems archaic to a North American like me might have more recent currency in British English. It’s not even all that archaic in North America. I have lived in the US all my life and remember seeing " Situation Wanted" as a category in the newspaper classified ads. (when those still existed). That would have been in the 80s or 90s so my 30 year old children would not remember it but no need to go back to the 19th century. > [@themapleleaf](#): > > The second word I’m thinking of is **accident**. It seems like in the past, this word often meant any chance occurrence, and not necessarily an unfortunate instance of harm, injury or damage. It still does mean by chance or unintentionally - for example, I know a lottery winner who accidentally picked the winning numbers . She intended to play her usual numbers , wasn’t wearing her glasses and chose a wrong number - lets say she intended to mark 35 but accidentally marked 36. That’s just as accidental as it would be if 35 had been the winning number and her accident prevented her from winning. It’s just that accidentally is more commonly used for unfortunate events 0 I could say I “accidentally ran into” someone , but would probably just say “ran into” as that implies it was accidental. I wouldn’t say I ran into someone if I intended to see them - unless it was “accidentally on purpose”. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2023, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-that-used-to-have-other-meanings/977656/23 "2023-01-04T17:12:20Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > It still does mean by chance or unintentionally - for example, I know a lottery winner who accidentally picked the winning numbers . She intended to play her usual numbers , wasn’t wearing her glasses and chose a wrong number - lets say she intended to mark 35 but accidentally marked 36. That’s what we (Brits) would call a Happy Accident - a mistake which ends in a positive outcome. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2023, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-that-used-to-have-other-meanings/977656/24 "2023-01-04T17:14:12Z")
[Silly](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/silly#Etymology) > The semantic evolution is “lucky” → “innocent” → “naïve” → “foolish” [Daft](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/daft#Etymology) > From [Middle English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_English) _[dafte](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dafte#Middle_English)_, _[defte](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/defte#Middle_English)_ (“gentle; having good manners; humble, modest; awkward; dull; boorish”), from [Old English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_English) _[dæfte](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/d%C3%A6fte#Old_English)_ (“accommodating; gentle, meek, mild”),[[1]](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/daft#cite_note-1), from [Proto-West Germanic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-West_Germanic_language) _[\*daftī](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstruction:Proto-West_Germanic/daft%C4%AB)_ (“fitting, suitable”), ultimately from [Proto-Indo-European](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Indo-European_language) _[\*dʰh₂ebʰ-](https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/d%CA%B0h%E2%82%82eb%CA%B0-&action=edit&redlink=1)_ (“fitting; to fit together”). Related to [Old English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_English) _[dafnian](https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=dafnian&action=edit&redlink=1)_, _[dafenian](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dafenian#Old_English)_ (“to be fitting, appropriate, or becoming”), [Russian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_language) _[до́брый](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%B1%D1%80%D1%8B%D0%B9#Russian)_ (dóbryj, “good”). ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2023, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-that-used-to-have-other-meanings/977656/25 "2023-01-04T17:23:49Z")
If we can count slang words, a “geek” as I understand it used to be someone who worked in a carnival sideshow basically doing crazy things for money. I’m not sure when it evolved into the current meaning sort of adjacent to “nerd” but not quite the same. And “dude” used to be an insulting term in 19th century America describing an Easterner who came out West overly fancily dressed. Basically it was synonymous with “dandy”. And it’s now evolved into meaning more or less the opposite. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2023, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-that-used-to-have-other-meanings/977656/26 "2023-01-04T17:54:35Z")
Goth and the related word Gothic have a long strange history. The Goths were originally a Gemanic people who invaded the western Roman Empire and controlled parts of Europe in the early Middle Ages. Later the expression Gothic was used, somewhat disparagingly, to describe the monumental architecture of the late Middle Ages, especially churches like Notre Dame, even though the Goths had disappeared as a cultural group by this time. In the 1800’s, the term Gothic was used to refer to a style of fiction that features fear and horror as the main elements, mostly famously books like Dracula. In the 1970s this inspired a style of music called Gothic rock. A subculture developed based on fandom of this music emphasizing dark and exotic dress, and persists to this day. So a “Goth” has gone from a member of a German tribe to a moody teenager with dark eyeliner. ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2023, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-that-used-to-have-other-meanings/977656/27 "2023-01-04T18:06:17Z")
I always wondered about ‘dude’, as an adjective. The Buford ‘Mad Dog’ Tannen character in Back to the Future Part 3 uses ‘duded up’ to refer to Marty, who sticks out like a sore thumb in 1885 California as he’s been dressed up in what 1955’s Doc Brown thinks is a perfect western disguise. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2023, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-that-used-to-have-other-meanings/977656/28 "2023-01-04T18:29:55Z")
I’ve always found the metamorphosis of the adjective ‘sophisticated’ interesting: from having a very shady meaning of “manipulative and deceitful” to a very positive “possessing the height of refinement and good taste”. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2023, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-that-used-to-have-other-meanings/977656/29 "2023-01-04T18:33:08Z")
> [@iamatractorboy](#): > > always wondered about ‘dude’, as an adjective. The Buford ‘Mad Dog’ Tannen character in Back to the Future Part 3 uses ‘duded up’ to refer to Marty, who sticks out like a sore thumb in 1885 California as he’s been dressed up in what 1955’s Doc Brown thinks is a perfect western disguise. A “dude” was a city boy playing cowboy. A dude ranch is where such people would take vacation to okay out their fantasies. They would come dressed up in garish outfits that popular culture told them old times cowboys and gunslingers wore, but had nothing to do with how western settlers and ranchers really dressed. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2023, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-that-used-to-have-other-meanings/977656/30 "2023-01-04T19:02:23Z")
This is an interesting discussion, but I’m not seeing a question here. Let’s try MPSIMS instead. Moved from FQ to MPSIMS. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2023, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-that-used-to-have-other-meanings/977656/31 "2023-01-04T19:18:33Z")
Along those same lines, while “entrepreneur” always meant a person who started a business, from what I understand when it first entered the English language it carried the connotation of a shady, dishonest businessman. It was around the Regan era when it picked up its current, positive connotation. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2023, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-that-used-to-have-other-meanings/977656/32 "2023-01-04T19:40:22Z")
Slut. Slut originally had no sexual connotation. It meant the lowest of the housemaids, often still a child, who’s job it was to empty and clean chamberpots, clean ashes out of fireplaces and re-lay the logs for the next fire. Gradually, it changed meaning to signify a lazy housekeeper, e.g., the term “slut’s wool” meant what we now call dust bunnies and cobwebs. The is now a term to mean a woman who likes sex, growing from the fact that the slut in a house, was easy prey sexually, and men of the family in the home where she worked would often take advantage of the fact that the child couldn’t say anything about the sexual abuse, or she’d lose her job. ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2023, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-that-used-to-have-other-meanings/977656/33 "2023-01-04T20:00:12Z")
Interesting, thanks. I’d kind of assumed that Tannen was talking a bit of nonsense or mixing his words up like the 1950s version, but wasn’t sure what the origin of the term was. Seems like he was more accurate than I thought! ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2023, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-that-used-to-have-other-meanings/977656/34 "2023-01-05T01:10:09Z")
“Turtle” was originally the name of a bird. After the Norman invasion, the French used their word “tortue” to name the shelled reptile. Through folk etymology, the French became “turtle” to match the familiar English word. In order to prevent confusion, the bird became “turtle dove.” ---
**Author:** ![gnarator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gnarator/32/8266_2.png) [@gnarator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnarator)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2023, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-that-used-to-have-other-meanings/977656/35 "2023-01-05T01:27:49Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Awful was originally aweful meaning inspiring great awe, either for good or bad. In researching which king called St. Paul’s Cathedral “aweful” I found out that the Royal Warrant called the cathedral “artifical” meaning artistic in design. I believe King James referred to St. Paul’s as “amusing, awful, and artificial.” Amusing, as in pleasing to the senses; awful, as in filling one with awe; artificial as artistic. As long as are discussing Jane Austen, the word _condescension_ seems to have shifted in meaning. She usually uses it to compliment a higher-status person interacting with a lower-status person graciously, rather than the current meaning of disdain or patronizing superiority. ---
**Author:** ![themapleleaf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/themapleleaf/32/14349_2.png) [@themapleleaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/themapleleaf)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2023, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-that-used-to-have-other-meanings/977656/36 "2023-01-05T02:28:04Z")
I just remembered another North America vs. UK example, which I learned from experience. In North America, when we say **veteran** , we use it pretty much only to mean someone who has been in the military, or in the broader sense someone who has longer experience with being in an organization or institution or specific activity or profession (e.g., a veteran of the competition circuit, a veteran astronomer). But in the UK, it can also be used in the sense of “a senior citizen”. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2023, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-that-used-to-have-other-meanings/977656/37 "2023-01-05T02:55:49Z")
Nowadays, something that’s “manufactured” is the opposite of “hand-made”, even though “hand-made” is literally what “manufactured” means. And from Terry Pratchett: > [@](#): > > Elves are wonderful. They provoke wonder. > Elves are marvellous. They cause marvels. > Elves are fantastic. They create fantasies. > Elves are glamorous. They project glamour. > Elves are enchanting. They weave enchantment. > Elves are terrific. They beget terror. > The thing about words is that meanings can twist just like a snake, and if you want to find snakes look for them behind words that have changed their meaning. > No one ever said elves are nice. > Elves are bad. ---
**Author:** ![UDS1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47774/32.png) [@UDS1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS1)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2023, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-that-used-to-have-other-meanings/977656/38 "2023-01-05T02:59:22Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > Along those same lines, while “entrepreneur” always meant a person who started a business, from what I understand when it first entered the English language it carried the connotation of a shady, dishonest businessman. It was around the Regan era when it picked up its current, positive connotation. Yeah. It isn’t the meaning that has changed, so much as social attitudes. “Entrepreneur” has always meant somebody who engages in running commercial ventures involving financial risk. It came into English in the eighteenth century when this was socially deprecated; the people concerned had to undertake risky ventures because they had no property off which to live, and because they didn’t have a trade or profession that would enable them to earn enough to live simply by selling their services. So they had to do financially risk things (often, with other people’s money). ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2023, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-that-used-to-have-other-meanings/977656/39 "2023-01-05T03:02:41Z")
A decade or two back, momentarily meant “for a moment”, but now it means “in a moment”. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2023, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-that-used-to-have-other-meanings/977656/40 "2023-01-05T03:07:05Z")
> [@gnarator](#): > > I believe King James referred to St. Paul’s as “amusing, awful, and artificial.” No, it was Charles II, and he only referred to it as ‘artificial’. No ‘amusing’, ‘awful’, ‘terrible’ or ‘pompous’ in the original quote, those were later embellishments. [Quote Investigator article](https://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/10/31/st-pauls-cathedral/) on the subject. Willy-nilly is most often used to signify something disorgsanized, haphazard, random, unplanned. Originally it was will-ye nill-ye, whether you like it or not. _Presently_ has shifted in meaning from _right now_ to _in a short while_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-that-used-to-have-other-meanings/977656.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-words-that-used-to-have-other-meanings/977656.md?page=3)