Hmmm, I was thrown for another "word loop" today. A logomaniac told me that "umbrella" really doesn't mean to shield from the rain--it comes from the Latin word "umbra" meaning shade. So--an "umbrella" really is a "parasol", meaning to protect from the shade. According to this person, the closest word to meaning "protect from the rain" is the French word "parapluie".
Did you know this? Did I actually stump you arnie??? Are there other words like this?
I generally lose umbrellas, and rarely find myself in the rain with one. I'll carry one around with me all day and it is unlikely to rain. Leave it at work or home and it's bound to pour down. Even if it's raining when I leave home and I take an umbrella, the rain will stop almost immediately. I tend to wear a coat with a hood instead.
Aha! So--you do call that protection from the rain an "umbrella"! BTW, I often lose my parapluies, as well, and hardly carry one for that reason.
Morgan, of course you are right--it should protect from the sun, not the shade. Thanks! From another thread, I do appreciate it when people correct my mistakes.
Bumbershoot is a Seattle festival held every Labor Day weekend at the Seattle Center, home of the Space Needle and the 1962 World's Fair. The festival was first held in 1971, but didn't get the name "bumbershoot" until 1973. The name was coined to reflect the city's reputation for rain and as a metaphor as an umbrella for the arts. So plan your Labor Day weekend now!
Dickens gave us gamp, another word for umbella, which was omitted from the Dickens thread only because I had more than seven day's worth of Dickens' words.
I don't recall who's line this is but I once read that a proper English gentleman always has three umbrellas - one to leave at home, one to leave at work, and one to leave on the bus.
And while we're on the subject, can a broken umbrella be said to be "bumbershot"?
In the history of my life, I must have lost hundreds of umbrellas!
I wonder, since both "bumbershoot" and "gamp" are defined by the dictionaries (I haven't gone to OED) as umbrellas--are their precise meanings "protection from the sun" also, then? Or because they were both used as rain protection in their respective pieces of literature/media, would they be more accurately defined as parapluies?
Are there other commonly-used words where the meaning is incorrect, as with umbrella?
I don’t think the meaning of “umbrella” is incorrect. Rather, the definition has been expanded from meaning only a “light portable screen or shade, usually circular in form and supported on a central stick or staff, used in hot countries as a protection for the head or person against the sun” (OED definition 1 a), to include a “ portable protection against bad weather, made of silk or similar material fastened on slender ribs, which are attached radially to a stick and can be readily raised so as to form a circular arched canopy” (OED definition 2). In fact, the OED gives 12 definitions for “umbrella”.
Many words mean something specific, but change over time. We speak of “dialing” a number, but few of us really use a dial telephone. We still speak of “typing”, though few of use a typewriter. The meanings of many words used in specific disciplines get expanded or watered down when they enter the general vocabulary.
Agreed, tinman. Perhaps we should take Kalleh's inquiry as a call for words whose current meanings, though not "wrong", are well-distinct from their original meanings.
We use celibate to mean "abstaining from sexual intercourse". But according to AHD, its original meaning (now secondary) was "unmarried", which is a very different thing. AHD adds,
quote: Historically, celibate means only "unmarried"; its use to mean "abstaining from sexual intercourse" is a 20th-century development. But the new sense of the word seems to have displaced the old, and the use of celibate to mean "unmarried" is now almost sure to invite misinterpretation in other than narrowly ecclesiastical contexts. Sixty-eight percent of the Usage Panel rejected the older use in the sentence He remained celibate [unmarried], although he engaged in sexual intercourse.
Yeah, but: carrying it back further, etymology on-line reports that this word ultimately comes from PIE [=proto-Indo-European?] kaiwelo- "alone" + lib(h)s- "living." So perhaps the term has returned to its root meaning after all!
Interesting, wordnerd. You and Tinman are probably right about changes in the meanings of words. And, Tinman, I had not checked in OED so thanks for that. However, what I find interesting is what people accept as changes in meanings (umbrella) and what they quibble over (moot).
By the way, I found yet another word for umbrella today--"brolly"--mostly used in England, I am told.
While I do not claim to be an expert in the field of celibacy, it is my understanding that in the Catholic Church, priests do not take a vow of celibacy before they assume their duties as is often assumed. They take a vow of chastity which is, technically, a whole other matter entirely.
Or, any way, it used to be. Dictionary.com lists "chastity" as the second definition for "celibacy" and "celibacy" as the third definition of "chastity." This ties right in with Kalleh's question about the changing meanings of various words and reflects the blurring of the lines of distinction between these two words.
Another is "dilemma" which is now simply defined as "a problem." It's original definition was "a problem to which there are two separate and distinct possible solutions." What a great word! If your problem presented three possible options, then you had a "trilemma" on your hands, though this word was never as commonly used.
Similarly, "to decimate," which now means "to wipe out or to generally kick ass upon," originally meant "to destroy one tenth of an overall body." If your army was decimated years ago, no major big deal since you still had nine tenths of it left to fight with. Today it's another story.
As far as the etymology is concerned, as I'm sure Tinman will confirm, "deci" = one tenth and "mate" = to have sex, the meaning being that if you lost 1/10 of your army you were f**ked.
I much prefer both original meanings but until I'm elected President of the Dictionary I don't suppose there's much than can be done.
(Hmmm... I suppose there's always the possibility of a coup...)
When I started this thread, I thought we had a thread about the changing of words--and I found it; it was the "suck" thread. The word "discuss" has changed in interesting ways over the years, as well.
As far as the etymology is concerned, as I'm sure Tinman will confirm, "deci" = one tenth and "mate" = to have sex, the meaning being that if you lost 1/10 of your army you were f**ked.
Partly right. Deci- is from the French déci-, which is derived from Latin. It means "tenth" when it's combined with a root word. It's not used as a prefix here, and mate is not the root word. Decimate, rather, comes from the Latin Latin decimatus, tenth.
CJ, I did not know that meaning for "dilemma". In fact, my AHD says that 74% of the usage panel (I think I want to be on that panel!) rejects this sentence: Juvenile drug abuse is the great dilemma of the 1980's (sic)--because "dilemma" should not mean "predicament" or simply "problem". I grieve to tell you that AHD used an apostrophe in 1980s, which of course we all know is really not appropriate.
Tinman, could you please enlighten me as to what you think "decimate" means then? Do you agree with CJ that it means one-tenth? I have always believed that. I was just a bit confused by your post.
Say it ain't so, Tinman! You're not turning into R.E. on me, are you?
Kalleh, as Grand Vizier of the Limerick Thread, it is your duty to explain the concept of "a joke" to any Wordcrafter apparently unable to readily distinquish said concept at first glance. (And, as a side thought, why anyone takes me even half-seriously when I go off on tangents such as the above definition of "decimate" is completely beyond me.)
Regarding "1980's," the apostrophe may not be, to use your term, appropriate but it looks nice and, as such, I for one will continue to use it as long as guides advise that it's a matter of personal preference or style. To me, "1980s" looks less like a term designating a period of time and more like a representation of "1980 Small," a size for something (I have no idea what!) that, at the very least, suggests a gross confliction in terms.
"1980's" or "1980s." Such a dilemma! I'm not King on this thread so the choice is completely yours.
quote:Kalleh, as Grand Vizier of the Limerick Thread, it is your duty to explain the concept of "a joke" to any Wordcrafter apparently unable to readily distinquish said concept at first glance.
Better make that someone else. I must be turning into Richard, as well. While, of course I knew you were kidding about the sex bit (I did take that with a grain of salt), decimate is a fine word to discuss because its meaning is often misunderstood. And, often, the example used is that of an army; if every 10th soldier is killed, the army is decimated. So--I, too, took your post as relatively serious (as serious as you get! ) I always had a question about the "decimate" example: From a military point of view (not a humanity point of view), why is losing only one-tenth of an army really sooo bad? Am I just real naive about armies--or am I not understanding the definition of "decimate"?
As far as apostrophes, rememember, arnie has turned me into an apostrophe minimalist!
quote:Originally posted by Kalleh: Tinman, could you please enlighten me as to what you think "decimate" means then? Do you agree with CJ that it means one-tenth? I have always believed that. I was just a bit confused by your post.
Decimate means exactly what C J said it did (minus the sex). Originally it meant to kill one-tenth of a group. Apparently this was a punishment the Romans used to dissuade the troops from mutiny. One out of every ten soldiers were selected at random and killed. The meaning expanded to mean "to kill a large part of a group". There are so many unambiguous words with this expanded meaning that I feel it better to avoid decimate.
Another meaning is to impose a ten percent tax on (kind of like a tithe ).
In looking for something else, I found the word gamp which means a large umbrella. It also means a midwife (from Mrs. Gamp, a character in Dickens' Martin Chuzzlewit, who was a midwife with a large umbrella).
Posts: 1412 | Location: Buffalo, NY, United States
quote:My daughter remembered me using the word "bumbershoot" for umbrella. Can you tell me how that slang version began and what country it came from? — F.H., Medford
What an appropriate question, F.H., especially in the wake of our recent late-summer drizzles. It turns out that the term "bumbershoot" is a whimsical alteration of parts of two words: "umb" from "umbrella" and "shoot" from "parachute." Its etymology dates to 1896, according to several dictionaries.
Less clear is its country of origin. Some authorities claim the term is British; others insist it's an American invention coined by those wacky folks in the late 19th century. Either way, it's pretty rare these days to hear anyone call an umbrella a "bumbershoot" — but it is the name of an awfully fun annual festival in Seattle.
quote:Originally posted by Caterwauller: Bumbershoot? What is a bumbershoot? I've always heard it as Bumpershoot.
Bumpershoot is an incorrect rendering of bumbershoot. I guess bumbershoot didn't sound right to some people, so they thought it must be bumpershoot. They were wrong. The OED Online lists it as "bumbershoot, n. slang (orig. and chiefly U.S.). An umbrella." The first citation is from 1896.
The Word Detective and World Wide Words both give good explanations. World Wide Words also gives a possible explantation why many people mistakenly think it is British.
From another thread, I do appreciate it when people correct my mistakes.
I knew it!
