New words are entering the English language all the time – have been since the language began.
I don’t know about you, but, until I started getting interested in writing historical fiction, I didn’t think a whole lot about word origins and writing. That sort of thing interested me (my husband got me the “Compact Oxford English Dictionary” for Valentine’s Day 2000, and I was THRILLED!), but I never saw the benefit of knowing that information (0ther than answering trivia questions).
But now, if I want to be authentic in my writing, I need to be sure the words my characters are using actually existed during the time period they are speaking. My Civil War hero shouldn’t be talking about “finagling” a situation, as that word didn’t show up in the English language until 1926 (according to my writing friend Roseanna White’s blog post last month). And we can’t have Benjamin Franklin writing that everything is O.K., because tha
t abbreviation didn’t first appear in print until March 23, 1839 (yes, 173 years ago today) in the Boston Globe (History.com has an article about it on This Day In History, if you’re interested).
But where, you may ask, can you get this information? Well, there’s always the Oxford English Dictionary (either online by clicking on that link – or if you wanna stop by my house, I’ll let you borrow mine – along with the magnifying glass that will allow you to actually READ it!).
Another great site for this is the Online Etymology Dictionary. It’s amazing what you might learn about words you are SURE have been around forever. And if it’s just a matter of curiosity and/or fun, Roseanna White has a weekly post on her blog about the origin of a word she’s been researching. I love to read her Word of the Week post.
I’m sure there are other sources of this kind of information. If you know any, please share them in the comments!
Do you find word origins interesting? Do you have any other sources for them?
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5 Comments until now.
Thank you for making us aware of the word.
Thank you so much for this post, and the links!
I’m currently reading a historical novel, and I’m finding it very distracting when I find a modern word in something that is supposed to be set in 1560 (e.g. using the word ‘moxie’, which my Oxford Dictionary dates as mid 20th Century). Your post gives me a good rationale for why it is making me uncomfortable.
P.S. I want a hard copy Oxford Etymology Dictionary for my birthday.
Do you have Webster’s Original 1828 Dictionary? Besides my Bible, it is one of my most treasured and used books.
Thanks for all the references!
I’m fascinated with words and phrases. I recently learned that “It’s a dog’s life” was defined as hard work and came from a line of Shakespeare (I believe). I’d always heard it used as a life of ease with no cares while working hard as a dog meant a life of hard work. The language is a living, changing, thing.
Interesting. I never really thought about how words “show up”…until now.