Colonial words: Everyday words whose meaning has changed ...

[jeannerené]

Link:
Colonial words: Everyday words whose meaning has changed ....

I always find this history about the English language fascinating.

Quoted from page:

Joan P. Bines’ Words They Lived By: Colonial New England Speech, Then and Now is a collection of words that are still familiar today, but that were used in totally different ways in colonial New England. Bines, director of the Golden Ball Tavern Museum in Massachusetts, follows words in several categories (work, drinking, the military, the sea) from the everyday contexts of colonial life through to the present day. Each word, as you might expect, contains a little story about the way life was once lived.

Here are a few of my favorites.

Backlog: Then: The largest log in the fire, set at the back of the kitchen fireplace to provide warmth. Housewives built smaller fires closer to the front, where they could control the heat for cooking. Now: A surplus, a reserve; or, less comfortably, a list of orders yet to be filled or emails yet to be answered.

Humble pie: Then: Entrails of a deer were called “the humbles.” Servants might eat a pie filled with minced “humbles.” Now: To eat “humble pie”: to make a sincere, shame-filled apology.

Logrolling: Then: “A community get-together for mutual assistance,” in which neighbors came together to help a new settler clear a cabin site of its trees. Now: Mutual back-scratching, as done by politicians; the connotation has become distasteful.

Mechanic: Then: Any of a class of respected, skilled craftsmen who made things with their hands: goldsmiths, cabinetmakers, blacksmiths. Now: Somebody who works with engines or machines.

Negligee: Then: A “dress that opened in the front to show the handsomely decorated petticoat beneath.” Now: The word, used only for lingerie, has a decidedly sexier connotation.

Pioneer: Then: In the colonial military, “a foot soldier who was sent ahead of the troops to repair roads, dig trenches, and open the way for the others.” Now: The word has a more generalized meaning: a person who settles on a frontier, or works in unknown intellectual territory.

Plantation: Then: Simply a planted area; sometimes used to indicate a farming settlement or community (see: Plimouth Plantation). Now: Usually used to describe a large estate, held by one person; the word is now intertwined with the practice of slavery.

Sad: Then: In an object: Of muted color (flax, puce, somber green). In a man: Grave, serious, trustworthy, firm. Now: Unhappy or sorrowful.

Smug: Then: Well-dressed. Now: Complacently self-righteous. (Or: Well-dressed, and knows it.)

Tenterhooks: Then: Hooks lining a wooden frame, or “tenter,” used to stretch washed woolen cloth after weaving. Now: “On tenterhooks” means to feel emotionally strained or anxious—a direct derivation from a vanished everyday craft.

Truck: Then: Goods used for trade or barter in a cash-poor economy (furs, pots and pans, bullets). Vegetables grown at home and taken to market. Later, a single-axeled carriage drawn by two horses. Now: A vehicle meant for hauling.

Wallet: Then: A knapsack that might carry enough provisions for a trip of a few days. Now: A small billfold that holds money, credit cards, and mementoes.

Rebecca Onion, who runs Slate’s history blog The Vault, is a writer and academic living in Philadelphia. Send her an email or follow her on Twitter.

[nrt]

Hi,

The are still some resonances in the original meaning of these words, at least over here. So, for example we still understand the phrase, "I will have no truck with that so and so..." meaning that we will not have any dealings with a person we don't trust, even though this is the only way that the word 'truck' is used in that context I can think of.

But, I too enjoy finding out about words and their shifting meanings and also how simple, every day things, are mangled by the Atlantic.

So, just about every device that starts or stops the flow of something in the UK is called a 'tap'* - but in the US, as I understand it, taps can supply beer, but most everything else comes out of a faucet, which we would not use for anything at all.

*The exception to this is the main tap, which controls or governs the flow to other taps, which is called a 'stopcock' - I don't know if you have such a distinction over there?

Another one, that I thought my story might cause to problems with is the boot or trunk of a car. Trunk is an obvious word, as, on early cars a luggage trunk would have been strapped to the back of the car for storage. Where as we use a term derived from the box that the coachman used to sit on, which was called a boot locker, because he could keep things like his boots in there...

Then at the other end of the car you can have a Hood, if you are American, but we prefer a Bonnet.

With nearly all of these things we Brit's, having been fed on a diet of at least 10-20% US television for years (and probably over 90% US films) can translate. But, the same is not generally true, in my experience, going the other way. Where even UK pronunciation or word stress can make understanding difficult. For example, on my first trip to the states, in 1981, to California, a group of us wanted to go to Knotts Berry Farm.

In the UK this phrase would be said with the stress on the last word, so you get something like Knottsberry Farm However, the taxi driver refused to believe that such a place even existed despite out repeated and increasingly desperate attempts to get him to take us to a world renowned visitor attraction.

How were we to know it was called Knotts Berry Farm?

Oh well.

[jeannerené]

Actually "tenterhooks" and "truck" were the two that surprised me the most. I would have never guessed their original meanings.

I recall reading a book on the English language .... way ... way ... way back in my college days that explained the origins of the word "housewife" which from what I recall was something other than respectful.

I did become familiar with "boot" and "bonnet" a long time ago, simply because of my reading habits, as well as, realizing that certain words were spelled differently. I rather like humour, favour, labour, colour, rumour over the American counterpart. Although "realize vs realise" doesn't come quite so easily to me. I keep wanting to correct "realise."

I cringe when I see "theater" .... it has always been "theatre" for me and I have been corrected for spelling it that way.

I wasn't aware of "tap" and its usage ... only beer on this side of the ocean for the most part. I am not sure I could use "stopcock" with out blushing. My unsavory mind is imagining just what might be the origin of that word.

Stress is really important in Spanish and can change the whole meaning of the word, but with English stress doesn't change the meaning as far as I know, but like you've mentioned it can cause confusion in understanding the word or phrase. I am sure, however, that I could travel to other parts of the States and end up saying "What ... repeat that again, please" several times. I worked really hard one time on developing an authentic "backwoods Texas accent" for a stage production and the director told me I had to cut it back during rehearsals ... because no one could understand me. I was so disappointed ... lol ...

But the history of the English language has always fascinated me and I love running across these "did you know" articles. If you find any ... post 'em!

~j