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words changing meaning such as gay, it has recently come to my attention just how quickly words do change. Phrases especially at school we routinly use the phrase "got all bull shit" such as "dude my mom just got all bull shit on me."
I came home and said that and everyone just stared at me funny cuz appanrelty no one could understand what I was attempting to say when i said those words. I m trying to think of others but i have since forgotten...
Why are you wearing that stupid man suit?
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13785
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Er, what does it mean?
And while oyu are about it, ask Deej about "notions"
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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pimple
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Likes it here |
Location: USA
Registered: March 2006
Messages: 375
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I asked once, and now I know WAY more about notions than any sane man should!
Just kidding Deeej
Regards
Simon
Joy Peace and Tranquility
Joyceility
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cossie
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On fire! |
Location: Exiled in North East Engl...
Registered: July 2003
Messages: 1699
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... he's led a very sheltered life, and in polite British circles bulls don't shit - they defecate!
Your dead right about the speed with which casual street language changes; the experts reckon that in the UK the average street-life of an expression is around three years. Some words hang around a lot longer, but they often subtly change their meaning. 'Cool' was popular in the sixties and early seventies; it's still around, but it doesn't mean quite the same now as it did then. It can be an interesting study - even looking a the titles of chart songs over the years shows how the language has dated.
For a' that an' a' that,
It's comin' yet for a' that,
That man tae man, the worrld o'er
Shall brithers be, for a' that.
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To "be all bull shittin" means that someone is really ridding you. You know, like if my moms given me a hard time and getting pissed off and upset and generally female-ie then shes getting all bull shit.
Like your sitting in class and all of a sudden your teacher walks up to you and starts yeling and getting in your face about something you did or didn't do you would say that he, got all bull shit on you.
Why are you wearing that stupid man suit?
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saben
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On fire! |
Registered: May 2003
Messages: 1537
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Now I sound like such a University nerd 
Anyway, I did a subject in Linguistics this semester and I definitely think it's an area I'll pursue, but on the topic of historic linguistics language change is quite common throughout history.
Did you know the words for "Cannabis", "Canvas" and "Hemp" all derive from the same origin?
Or what about the common phrase "The exception proves the rule"? Doesn't an exception disprove the rule? Well in middle English "prove" actually meant "test".
Then there's "fun", which original started off as a noun and had roughly the same meaning as entertainment. Over time however it's gradually become an adjective so you can have combinations like "very fun", something that would have sounded odd previously.
Look at this tree. I cannot make it blossom when it suits me nor make it bear fruit before its time [...] No matter what you do, that seed will grow to be a peach tree. You may wish for an apple or an orange, but you will get a peach.
Master Oogway
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marc
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Needs to get a life! |
Registered: March 2003
Messages: 4729
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In some cases prove or proof is still in use with it's meaning "to test"
In the baking industry one "proofs" the dough before it is baked to ensure the yeast is still active.
This goes back to middle english and beyond.....
Life is great for me... Most of the time... But then I meet people online... Very few are real friends... Many say they are but know nothing of what it means... Some say they are, but are so shallow...
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cossie
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On fire! |
Location: Exiled in North East Engl...
Registered: July 2003
Messages: 1699
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'Prove' and 'proof' are both recorded in the twelfth century, and derive, through Old French, from the Latin 'probare' = 'to prove'. We get the word 'probe' from the same source. As Saben says, the original English meaning was 'to test'. It still had that meaning when used by Shakespeare in the phrase 'proof against', meaning 'tested and found effective against'. That phrase survives in modern English, still hanging on to its original meaning, and has given rise to later words such as 'fireproof' (17th C), 'waterproof' (18th C) and 'bulletproof' (19th C). The same sense occurs in 'proofreader', originating in American English around 1830.
An example of sense-change often quoted is 'nice'. It was first recorded in the thirteenth century, deriving - again through Old French - from the Latin 'nescius' = 'ignorant'. Its first recorded sense in English was 'ignorant' or 'stupid', but before the end of the century it was also recorded with the sense 'timid'. Over the next couple of hundred years it appears with the senses 'lascivious', 'fussy' and 'extravagant'.
It wasn't until the sixteenth century that the sense 'precise' or 'exact' is first recorded. That sense survives in expressions such a 'a nice distinction', and in the classic Laurel and Hardy phrase 'another nice mess you've got me into'. It was around 1770 before the sense 'pleasant' or 'agreeable' first appeared, and another sixty years before the the word was used to mean 'kind' or 'thoughtful'.
Excuse me for rambling on, but the history of language is something which has always fascinated me!
For a' that an' a' that,
It's comin' yet for a' that,
That man tae man, the worrld o'er
Shall brithers be, for a' that.
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