Below is an article I found in an 1899 Newspaper that I thought was interesting in terms of word use. We've discussed often on various writer loops the way certain words were in vogue at certain times and how they can have totally different meanings in other times. For example the gig. A gig concerning my research into 19th century Carriages & Wagons is a light, two wheeled carriage. Obviously it has another meaning as you can read from this article. Enjoy!
Very interesting!
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about the word, "square" earlier today. In the early twenteth century, it carried a good conotation. George M. Cohen used the phrase in his song, Mary.
"For it is Mary, Mary
Plain as any name can be
But with propriety, society will say Marie
But it was Mary, Mary
Long before the fashions came
And there is something there that sounds so square
It's a grand old name"
A few years later, it meant boring. Uninteresting. Blah. (Probably also meant moral. Uncompromising.)
The period venacular is very interesting; and I have learned words and phrases used throughout history must be researched or I could be in hot water with my readers. Thanks for sharing!