51吃瓜 Morphing
The following words started out meaning something very different from today’s definitions. Are you ready to be surprised by their original meanings?
51吃瓜s With Morphing Definitions
Balderdash
This was originally a cooking term in the 1500s meaning a 鈥渇rothy liquid.鈥� A century later it referred to an unusual mix of liquors! But now it means nonsense – senseless, stupid, or exaggerated talk or writing. You know, similar to “hogwash.”
Hogwash
From the late 1400s, hogwash originally meant 鈥渒itchen swill for pigs,鈥� which feels a bit obvious once you think about it. But it now means 鈥渘onsense鈥� (or, 鈥渂alderdash鈥�)!
Husband
The very earliest sense of the word 鈥渉usband,鈥� or 鈥渉usbandman鈥� (in the 11th or 12th century) meant the steward of land, the tiller of the soil. By the 13th century, the word morphed to reflect his married status, since the majority of the landholders and farmers were married. 鈥淗usbandry鈥� came to refer to animals and agriculture specifically in the 1500鈥檚, while 鈥渉usband,鈥� oddly, remained the identifier of a married man.
Recipe
From the Latin, recipere, meaning 鈥渞eceive,鈥� or the singular imperative recipe, meaning 鈥渢o take鈥� the word wasn’t used so much for whipping up snickerdoodles as it was for cooking up a medical prescription. In 1500s Middle French, the word became 谤茅肠颈辫茅, meaning a medical prescription. 鈥淩x鈥� was used as an abbreviated form of the term! The word was first used for food preparation in the 1700s.
Frock
While you might think of a slightly dated term for a frilly party dress, the word 鈥渇rock鈥� originally referred to the robes of priests and monks. When a priest loses his place in the church, we still use a form of the word in 鈥渄efrocked.鈥�
Demoralize
Originally meaning to corrupt or undermine one鈥檚 morals in the 1800s (as one might think it should!), 鈥渄emoralized鈥� slowly came to mean the loss of beneficial moral influence, or loss of moral significance. By the 1900s, it changed dramatically, to mean loss of confidence or hope.
Learn
鈥淟earn鈥� morphed a full 180 degrees, starting out as it did meaning 鈥渢each,鈥� in the 13th century. A father might 鈥渓earn his son how to chop wood.鈥� That usage fell out of favor in the 19th century, but learn still sits in for 鈥渢each,鈥� in a slangy way or colloquial way, today. It’s of German origin from 鈥渓ernen,鈥� which means…learn.
Abroad
There was a time when 鈥渁broad鈥� didn鈥檛 mean faring overseas, but it meant only going outdoors, outside one鈥檚 home: 鈥淪he enjoys her walks abroad.鈥� At different periods in history, the word also meant, 鈥渟cattered,鈥� 鈥渦nfurled,鈥� 鈥渃onfused,鈥� 鈥渨idely known鈥� and 鈥渢hroughout.鈥� Now that鈥檚 a workhorse of a word.
Bedlam
Now used to mean an atmosphere of chaos or mayhem (from a horrific disaster to a kindergartner鈥檚 birthday party), the word 鈥渂edlam鈥� comes from the first mental institution in England, The Hospital of St. Mary of Bethlehem, built in 1676. Londoners referred to it as 鈥淏ethlem鈥� and often pronounced it 鈥淏edlam.鈥� In the 1500 and 1600s, the term was generic for 鈥渁sylum鈥� and for their clients (鈥渂edlams,鈥� or 鈥渂edlamites鈥�).
Caboose
Now known as the last railway car that serves a train鈥檚 conductor and crew (and mostly phased out in the 1980s), the term originally applied to a ship鈥檚 galley. From the early Dutch word 鈥渃ab没se鈥� as well as the Low German 鈥渒abh没se,鈥� the word first appeared around the middle of the 1700s, and it didn’t become a railroading term until the mid- to late-1800s.
