I'll take 1590, 1700 and also "being able to apply your intelligence". It's a word with a lot of uses.

As a recent 'neophyte' member I am flattered that you have mentioned me like this Kellah. Thank you.

Oh, you're not a neophyte anymore; you're a member, remember?

Bob, I am very surprised you took the 1700 one. That was the one definition that I found perplexing. Does it mean "subtle" in the same way as "irony" is subtle; that is, a dry humor? I love dry humor, and it is very British.

I must not have given "wit" its due because I hadn't realized that it is so versatile. One definition I liked in the online Oxford dictionary was "an aptitude for using words and ideas in a quick and inventive way to create humour." That sounds like a lot of wordcrafters I know!

That online definition pretty much hits the nail on the head for me, Kalleh - I couldn't pick a definition because I couldn't choose between a couple of them, and I was just too tired yesterday to try to put my definition into sufficiently eloquent words myself.

When I think of wit I think of the likes of Oscar Wilde and the wonderful Stephen Fry (who played Wilde in the film of the same name).

I think of wit in a positive way. It can have bitchy elements, but I only think of such comments as witty if the person being derided has actually done something wrong, insulted you first or generally has dubious moral values. Making a comment about an innocent bystander, however cleverly worded, to me is just mean. I don't see wit as being akin to spite. Wit is fun.

Has anyone else attached a similar meaning to the word?

Hey, that's not fair. I just voted for the 1700 usage and it didn't show.

I plumped for that one because it seemed to incorporate both wisdom and (witty) humour. There's such a difference between the art of telling a joke and the gift of real wit, which is spontaneous, intelligent and, indeed, subtle.

quote:

There's such a difference between the art of telling a joke and the gift of real wit, which is spontaneous, intelligent and, indeed, subtle.

I totally agree. That's why I find people with true wit to be so engaging.

I'm inclined towards the last one, but I think of "cunning" as "knowledgeable." Doesn't it derive from the OE cunnan?

Maybe that's why I like witty men so much - they practice cunning linguis.

And have you ever been to Cony Island? "Cony" was one of the OE renderings of "cunt!"

quote:

Originally posted by Asa Lovejoy:
I'm inclined towards the last one, but I think of "cunning" as "knowledgeable." Doesn't it derive from the OE cunnan?

I think of "cunning" as "crafty" or "sly." And I see by your later quote that your mind is in the gutter again, Asa m'love!

And I see by your later quote that your mind is in the gutter again, Asa m'love!
What else is new, Sunflower?

So...I guess no one agrees with the 1748 definition, right? "Sharply critical, censorious, sarcastic."

I surely don't. I agree with you, Quickbeam, that true wit is really a gift, and does not mean just being able to tell jokes. However, I had never really associated "wit" with that 1700 definition, though I suppose good wit is subtle.

quote:

Originally posted by Asa Lovejoy:
And have you ever been to Cony Island? "Cony" was one of the OE renderings of "cunt!"

but doesn't it mean rabbit in French?

Con(e)y means 'rabbit' and was a term for 'dupe, simpleton, specifically, the fools caught by Elizabethan con men'. I have a book somewhere on cony-catching. (There's a list here; scroll down to Robert Greene.) Since Middle English coni came from French it post-dates the Old English period. The French word is related to Latin cunniculus 'rabbit' which looks a lot like a double diminutive of cunnus 'female genitalia'. Cunnus may also be related to cuneus (shows up in our cuneiform) which means 'wedge'. Cunnus is not related to English cunt which is most likely related to gwen- the PIE word for 'woman' which shows up in English quean 'whore', queen, Old Irish ben 'woman' (cf. banshee), Greek gune (whence gynecology). Words from Old English that begin with c do not correspond with words in Latin that begin with c.

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Now the question is whether the reference is to the wedge shape of a female pubis or the furrow/ burrow aspect of the vulva.

BTW, where did the other French term for rabbit, lapin come from?

BTW, where did the other French term for rabbit, lapin come from?

Long story short, from the Vulgar Latin verb *lappo, *lappare, 'to lick'. From the 14th C. lapereau 'young rabbit' (a word which coincidentally showed up in a French movie I was watching yesterday La Balance 'The Snitch') and from the 15th C. lapin 'rabbit'. Gamillscheg (who wrote a famous French etymological dictionary) suggests that lapereau may have come from rabbereau, but Meyer-Lübke (who wrote a very famous Romance etymological dictionary) doesn't think that is necessary. Rabbereau may or may not be connected with northern French rabot (also Walloon and maybe from Dutch), and connected with rabouillière 'rabbit burrow'. Also mentioned as a possible source is French lampriel from Dutch lampreel 'young rabbit'.

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Long story short, from the Vulgar Latin verb *lappo, *lappare, 'to lick'. .

Hence our term, "to lap," as many animals do when drinking. But it seems curious that a rabbit would be the model for lapping. I more think of them as burrowers, runners (especially when one of Sunflower's dogs sees one!), and gnawers.

Now, referring to the bawdy aspects discussed above, I remember a disparaging remark I once heard about a Playboy bunny: "Bunny, humpff, she's just a pubic hare!

But it seems curious that a rabbit would be the model for lapping.

Which is probably why Gamillscheg suggested rappereau. It's hard to say. Hare is cognate with Latin canus 'white, grey' whence candidate. My wife, who raised rabbits as a child, says that they do lap when drinking water.

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