Actually, the history of the word 'nice' provides a very good illustration of the untenable nature of this way of thinking. 'Nice' comes originally from two ancient Indo-European roots, '*skei' meaning 'cut', which came down into Latin as the verb 'scire' 'to know', probably via a meaning such as 'be able to distinguish one thing from another', and '*ne' meaning 'not'. The combination of the two forms gave the Latin verb 'nescire' which meant 'to be ignorant of'. This led to the development of the adjective 'nescius' 'ignorant', which came down into Old French as 'nice' meaning 'silly'. It was then borrowed from French into medieval English with the meaning 'foolish, shy' and, over the centuries, has gradually changed its meaning to 'modest', then 'delicate', 'considerate', 'pleasant' and finally 'agreeable' — a very long way in 6,000 years from its original meaning. No one in their right mind, though, would argue that the 'real' meaning of nice is, or ought to be, 'not cutting'.
(The Meanings of Words Should Not be Allowed to Vary or Change, Language Myths, Peter Trudgill)
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Que beleeeeeeza....
ResponderExcluirMe admira muito usarmos certas palavras sem conhecermos sua origem. Nós, no Brasil, utilizamos sempre a palavra "babaca" para insultar uma pessoa,correto? Mas será que todos sabem a origem da palavra e o que ela de fato significa?? :P
Tem que ler 'A Casa da Mãe Joana'... demos de presente para o seu pai... lembra?
ResponderExcluirEu sei, mas eu sei o significado da palavra q mencionei, mas estou dizendo q a maioria n sabe.... :P
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