semantic shift, was Fraternization


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Posted by Ed Kiser on October 09, 2003 at 04:20:41 from 205.188.208.8 user Kisered.

In Reply to: Re: Fraternization posted by Peter H on October 08, 2003 at 16:07:39:

Peter H commented:

'Indeed, this was the beginning of a queer kind of alliance between Dick and Mr Dixon'

Perhaps this serves as an example of yet another element of a dynamic language, one that continues to evolve over time. Words take on new meanings over time.

As the explorer, Henry Hudson, wrote in his log as he explored that river in the new world that was to take his name, "The natives paddled out to greet us in their naughty canoes." Here the word, NAUGHTY, means "good for naught" or "worthless" as water craft, as they consisted of logs that had been hollowed out, very difficult to paddle without the thing rolling over and dumping the occupants. The word NAUGHTY evolved to mean HATEFUL, or ILL BEHAVED, as is its meaning in: "You naughty boy, you tripped up your sister" which is a shift from its original meaning of being worthless or value-less.

In this age of "alternative life styles", the story that was popular to read in paperback several decades ago, called, "When We Were Young And Gay" brings to mind today a totally different connotation from the original concept of "Gay" meaning "happy", or "fun loving".

A similar shift in meaning can be applied today to the word "Grass" in that it used to mean that stuff you had to mow on a Saturday morning, but now has come to mean a controlled substance primarily used as a material to be smoked to obtain its mind-altering effects.

Let us assume in this quotation from Winter Holiday that the QUEER RELATIONSHIP mentioned simply means UNUSUAL, considering the normal characteristic of Mr Dixon to be non-talkative and not one to be involved in conversations with boarders. We could assume that in their companionship in working on that sledge that they had a gay time of it -- and I am referring to an older definition of the word, gay.

Perhaps it is a good thing that a language continues to evolve, for if it did not, we might still be sounding like Chaucer's "Cantebury Tales."

It is interesting to realize that I have lived long enough to have experienced at least some of these shifts in language, to realize that words have taken on new meanings different from those of my childhood. Reading Ransome is like taking a snapshot; it is a print of a language, of a place, that was considered normal at that time.

Not ever having been to that place, his words continue to capture another time and thus serve to fascinate and delight me. But that is the way it is with All Things Ransome.

Ed Kiser, South Florida


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