Re: words for Nick

Posted by Eric Charles-2 on Aug 21, 2020; 3:24pm
URL: http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/words-for-Nick-tp7598410p7598425.html

"Awesome" is one of my favorites. Now used to indicate general goodness.  Not generally used in situations where one say "i was in awe". 

"Liberal" and "conservative" are two of my least favorite.  Liberal was about promoting freedom.  Conservative was about retaining past ways. Note that those are clearly orthogonal issues in their original usage,  and now we act like they are opposites,  which is terrible.  

On Thu, Aug 20, 2020, 8:38 PM <[hidden email]> wrote:

Dave,

Great list.   Here is my favorite to add:

Incredible: now is "good", "very good"; was: "unsubstantiated", "suspect". 
Ditto unbelievable. 

See also adverbial forms, incredibly and unbelievably which have come to mean "very". 

Nick



Nicholas Thompson
Emeritus Professor of Ethology and Psychology
Clark University
[hidden email]
https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/



-----Original Message-----
From: Friam <[hidden email]> On Behalf Of Prof David West
Sent: Thursday, August 20, 2020 5:15 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: [FRIAM] words for Nick

    Wit — now: fun, funny, humorous; then: clever, apt humor, intelligence, acumen, thinker

    Fizzle — now: to fail, failure; then: to fart quietly

    Buxom — now: large-breasted; then: compliant or obedient

    Fantastic — now: unbelievable, superlative, excellent; then: based on fantasy or imagination, of fantasy

    Girl — now: young female; then: young person of any gender

    Backlog — now: pending work; then: largest log (literally!)

    Prestigious — now: honored; then: trickery, illusion, conjuring

    Bully — now: to be cruel, insulting, or threatening; then: a sweetheart, a fine chap

    Cute — now: attractive; then: clever, shrewd

    Meat — now: animal flesh for food; then: all foods

    Myriad — now: a great number; then: referred to the number 10,000 in ancient Greece

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