Aug 12, 2009
travesty as tragedy: What words are changing their definitions in our lifetime?
People who say travesty often mean tragedy.
I wonder when dictionaries will reflect this.
What other lexical mutations are happening right now?
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© 2012 Abuyo. All rights reserved.
People used to welcome guests in parlors. Now we welcome pizzas, massages, haircuts, and tattoos in those.
i don’t know if this is a lexical mutation, but i often hear people say “exalt” when they mean “exult.”
OK, that’s a word that has already changed.
Maybe this is an example: notoriety creeping from infamy toward ordinary fame.
I suppose to connote infamy and keep the root word, we’d have to go with the clunky notoriousness.
I’ve notice that, too–it bugs me!
Since high school I have noticed people use “peruse” when they intend the exact opposite; maybe it’s particular to the south or maybe it’s just particular to people I come across.
I’ve noticed that one, too.
Same thing with scan.
‘scan’ and ‘peruse’ are both great examples of contronyms. i just posted about these words because they freak me out :-P the one that really got me was bi-weekly, which is simultaneously defined as “twice per week” and “every other week”
How about the garbling of “tortured” and “tortuous” into “torturous,” which is being used as synonymous with “tortured.”
“Tortuous” is also disappearing from usage.
Don’t get me started.
“Literal” meaning “metaphorical.”
“Begging the question” meaning “That makes me want to ask an obvious question.”
“Momentarily” meaning “in a moment,” instead of “fleeting.”
“Begging the question” drives me crazy. No, it raises the question (is what people usually mean).
how about the classic, “I could care less!”
Maybe no one cares about this one anymore, but people using nauseous instead of nauseating really bothers me (and makes me laugh on the inside when I think about what the person is saying, as opposed to what they mean).
That one is funny to me too. But some dictionaries have been updated to reflect the change in usage.
The word infamy was mentioned, and I’ve seen several instances lately where people have used the word infamous to mean ‘really famous’.
I actually emailed a reporter from MLB.com who said that announcer Harry Kalas’ trademark ‘It’s Outta here!’ was infamous. I told him the word infamous meant ‘having a bad reputation’, and he wrote me back to apologize and changed the article he wrote.
How about something as silly as “thongs?” When I was young leaving one’s thongs by the door was acceptable?!
how about using “ideal” instead of “idea?” not quite the same as changing definitions, but you get the idea. (not the ideal.)
It’s funny how words do this over time. This is a great example of why you should never believe a preacher who uses the origin of a Greek word to make a point. Here’s one of my favorite word evolutions in English: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=nice&searchmode=none
i can only imagine–wait, no!–i know almost for certain the inspiration for this post. and it makes me laugh.
My question is-
When someone asks us to join him in “a word of prayer”…what would the response be if he said just one word? What would that word be?
“Amen”?
imply and infer are already merged for a lot of people. also, uninterested and disinterested.
i still wonder how exactly ‘literal’ became the new ‘figurative.’ i just love that. language users are so crazy.
i’ve noticed recently that ‘can you’ so often pragmatically means ‘will you’ in questions like ‘can you come pick me up?’ that it’s actually now pragmatically necessary to use the longer, marked form to get the original meaning, ‘are you able to pick me up?’ that’s definitely a shift.
I just read up on ‘disinterested’ and ‘uninterested’ and found out that they have been trading and sharing their meanings ever since the 16th century. Either one can acceptably be used in either way.
utilize instead of use.
Perhaps it just sounds more important.
partner–kind of
Used to be thought of like a tennis partner or business partner. In school we had playground partners or reading partners.
Now there are more romantic connotations.
It’s ironic you wrote this post today because I was just thinking about this recently.
Ah, yes. Ironic is another word that’s changing.
Your use is a good example of the prevalent, new definition.
News sources use the word “troops” to refer to individuals, as in “three troops were killed in Afghanistan today.” I always thought of a troop as a large group of soldiers. In the Psalms “run through a troop and jump over a wall” made sense. Now, because we talk about the “troops” overseas, the singular word seems to have developed the meaning of an individual member instead of the whole squadron.
I hear people say “weary” a lot when they mean “wary”. As in, “I’m really weary of giving scissors to babies.” Drives me nuts! I think it’s more of a misunderstanding, or not even knowing that they’re two different words, than what you’re talking about.
Yes, if someone is weary of giving scissors to babies maybe they should just take a break. Then they’ll be refreshed to keep handing out the scissors.
“Fail” as an interjection
I’m trying to think of a cool example of words changing their definitions.
But all I’ve got are “everyday” used as the subject instead of an adjective, and “alright” used as if it were a word at all.
So they don’t fit your discussion, but I feel SO much better getting them off my chest.
“Reign in” for “rein in” (only apparent in written form).
I laughed when I read this, because a friend of mine confusedly said “tragesty” (trajesty?) two years ago, and we’ve both been saying it since as a joke.
An article in our local paper noted that the word “herdict” means ‘verdict of the herd’ (ie group-think). They cited Harvard’s use of it (so it must be true?). I think its pretty catchy.
I’ve heard so many prayer requests for men who have prostrate cancer. (I wonder if it comes from being a couch potato?)
What about prodigal? Although it means wasteful or reckless, it is used to mean wayward.