XPost: alt.usage.english, alt.language.latin   
   From: hayesstw@telkomsa.net   
      
   On Sun, 06 Oct 2024 15:24:53 +0100, HVS    
   wrote:   
      
   >[pet peeve time]   
   >   
   >Most books of this sort -- which I suspect AUE readers often find under   
   >the Christmas tree from well-meaning family and friends -- are aimed at   
   >the easily bored, and seldom cite sources for their statements of fact,   
   >often skating over most of the nuance or context of a word's evolution.   
   >   
   >Take, for example, the statement that "Buxom used to mean obedient".   
   >It can't be faulted on accuracy, but it's only part of the story, as   
   >the word's meaning obviously didn't just jump from "obedient" to "full-   
   >bosomed".   
   >   
   >It took centuries to evolve from the "obedient, pliant" meaning (which   
   >applied equally to men and women) to the current gender-specific sense   
   >of "full-bosomed", by way of "submissive, humble, meek", to "gracious,   
   >courteous, affable", on to "blithe, jolly", and then to "bright,   
   >lively" and "full of health", vigorous", eventually reaching "plump and   
   >comely" in the late C19, and finally becoming "full-bosomed" in the   
   >second half of the C20.   
      
   And "glamour" still does mean magic in some contexts, and the   
   "prestige" is the equivalent of the punch line in a magic trick.   
      
      
   --   
   Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa   
   Web:  http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm   
   Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com   
   E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)