Death of some words; half-lives
of others
by
Howard
Richler
According to biologists, most species that have ever existed are
extinct. Likewise, words are organic; they are born, have lives and often
disappear, albeit not at the catastrophic level of species. They don’t actually
die, but many become obsolete and the OED records tens of thousands of these
words with the notation “obs.” or “obsolete.”
There are, however, two mood-related words relegated to lexicographic
antiquity that I’d like to resurrect ; mubble-fubbles
and chantepleure. Tahe former refers
to a state of mild depression in the 16th and 17th
centuries; the latter was used in the 14th and 15th
centuries to denote an e
One calculation shows that of the 231,000 entries in the OED, at least 20% are obsolete. These
defunct words range from aa, a stream
or watercourse, macilent, lacking in
substance, and end in zymome, a name
for a constituent of gluten that is insoluble in water.
English has a large vocabulary by dint of its history which might explain
this fallout. England was conquered by the Vikings in the 8th century
and then Norman French in the 11th
century and prudently concluded many
centuries later that it was better to be
a hammer than a nail by proceeding to invade
peoples in Asia, Africa and North America. In the process English added
multitudinous words to its lexicon, but truth be told, not every added word need
remain in our vocabulary. An example is respair
used both as a noun and a verb that referring to fresh hope after a period of
despair. It was listed but once in the 15th century then quickly
forgotten. Also, numerous words were fashioned by scholarly writers in the 14th
century that employed Greek or Latin roots. Many of these new coinages (dubbed inkhorns because ink originally was
stored in horns) were unknown or uncommon in ordinary speech. Two examples here
are ingent that meant “ very great”
and illecebrous that meant
“attractive.” Both these words however were in use for only 100 years. Another
reason words disappear is because they get superseded by synonyms. For example,
the words roetgenogram, radiogram
and x-ray were all born towards the
end of the 19th century but only x-ray is used today.
A word, however, can avoid the ignominy of obsolescence and enjoy at
least a half-life by burrowing its way into an idiomatic expression.
For example, have you ever espied a caboodle
sans a kit? According to the OED it was last recorded “kitless” in
1923. Caboodle appears to be a corruption of boodle,
which developed in the 1830s in America and was used to mean “a lot” or “a crowd,” but by the end of the
19th century this usage was all but extinct. Similarly kith only exists nowadays in the
expression "kith and kin.” In Old English, however, it referred to
knowledge, acquaintance or your native land in which you had enjoyed great
familiarity. Another of these vestigial words is fettle. Nowadays, it is almost always found in the expression “in
fine fettle” which designates a very good condition. Fettle was born as a Lancashire dialect word in the 18th
century meaning dress, case or condition and originally there were varieties of
fettles such as “poor,” “good” or
“frustrated.” However, by the beginning
of the 20th century the word seems
only exist when wedded with the adjective “fine.”
Another little word in this category is dint, (used by me at the start of the fourth paragraph). In Old
English, the word referred to a blow struck with a weapon and came to represent
subduing something by force, Nowadays the word is only used in the expression
“by dint of” and can represent any quality that allows you to accomplish a
task.
There are also several words found in idioms that while familiar, their
meanings in expressions don’t correspond with the sense one usually associates
with the word.
For example, if you’re a gentle soul, you might never again be able to
“cut someone to the quick” once you’re aware that quick designates that tender flesh below the growing part of a
toenail or fingernail. Also, the word boot as in “to boot” has been loitering
since the year 1000 with the sense of
“good,” “advantage” or “profit,” but it had died out in these senses by
the 19th century, although it enjoys a half-life in its contemporary
idiomatic form Similarly, the word hue as in “hue and cry” doesn’t refer to a shade, but derives from
the Old French hu meaning clamour and
is most likely onomatopoeic like the word “hoot.”
So let us hope that English retains these idiomatic usages. Better a
half-life than no life at all.
Richler’s latest book Wordplay:Arranged
and Deranged Wit was published in 2016.
