This morning in church (yes, Richard, I was there. We missed you. ) a friend of mine was showing off her infant granddaughter to several of us. The baby is 5 months old, and would not smile or giggle for us the way she allegedly always does. Her grandmother said to her, "Well, you're a little sobersides this morning."

I have read this word before, I think, but don't believe I've ever heard anyone actually use it. Have just looked it up and only found it in the American dictionaries online.

Does anyone know its origins? (I want to think it was a name the men called some humorless Civil War general behind his back or something. Sounds like Old Ironsides.) In the UK or other English-speaking countries, do you ever use this word?

Wordmatic

Sobersides.

The word evolved from the family name of General Zachary Sobersides, Confederate States of America, who was renowned for his inability to look cheerful when surrounded by church ladies.

LOL. OK, I asked for that, didn't I?

I did know what it meant; just not where it was from. You are going to make me dig out my OED with the 4 pt. type, aren't you?

Wow, wordmatic, I thought you were crazy. It sounded like baby talk to me. However, it has a nice little history in the OED. Here it is verbatim:

quote:

1705 HICKERINGILL Priest-cr. IV. Wks. 1716 III. 225 And he saidNay; or, no, no, Sober-sides, no. 1779 J. WEDGWOOD Let. 25 Feb. (1965) 229, I am sorry you have been again out of luck with a horse; but do not despair. I have got a sober sides on trial for a week past. 1824 MACTAGGART Gallovid. Encycl. 430 Sobersides, a creature of sober habits. 1846 MRS. GORE Engl. Charac. (1852) 85 The mamma naturally takes part with the Sobersides who has so much sympathy with her rheumatism. 1857 DUFFERIN Lett. High Lat. (ed. 3) 221 Innumerable sea-birds sat in the crevices... There was one old sober-sides with whom I passed a good ten minutes tête-à-tête. 1878 SPURGEON Serm. XXIV. 252 They say, ‘Oh, you old sobersides, how grave you are!’

Moi? Crazy? Mais, non!

Thanks, Kalleh, and I do hope you were able to copy/paste that long history and didn't have to type it?

WM

quote:

1705 HICKERINGILL Priest-cr. IV. Wks. 1716 III. 225 And he saidNay; or, no, no, Sober-sides, no. 1779 J. WEDGWOOD Let. 25 Feb. (1965) 229, I am sorry you have been again out of luck with a horse; but do not despair. I have got a sober sides on trial for a week past. 1824 MACTAGGART Gallovid. Encycl. 430 Sobersides, a creature of sober habits. 1846 MRS. GORE Engl. Charac. (1852) 85 The mamma naturally takes part with the Sobersides who has so much sympathy with her rheumatism. 1857 DUFFERIN Lett. High Lat. (ed. 3) 221 Innumerable sea-birds sat in the crevices... There was one old sober-sides with whom I passed a good ten minutes tête-à-tête. 1878 SPURGEON Serm. XXIV. 252 They say, ‘Oh, you old sobersides, how grave you are!’

I've seen tête-à-tête as a noun, but not as an adverb, as here. Is this use familiar to others?

Sobersides is certainly used here, although it is a rather old-fashioned word. I doubt that anyone in the UK would find it remarkable.

Wordnerd: I have seen tête-à-tête used in this way before, but I doubt its use is common.

Maybe it's regional. I'd not heard it.

quote:

Originally posted by wordnerd:]I've seen tête-à-tête as a noun, but not as an adverb, as here. Is this use familiar to others?

When I am talking to my alter ego I seldom speak in any other way.

tête-à-tête

What I savor, is when folks hypercorrectly pronounce this /tEtatE/ rather than /tEtatEt/. Its use as a noun, adjective, and adverb seem well established.

Almost always when someone posts about errors in pronunciation or use here, I have to confess that I do it that way. YAY! Not this time!

quote:

Maybe it's regional.

Interesting, Bob.

I don't think it's regional. I suspect we've differing reading tastes. It's certainly not a word I'd use in everyday conversation; as I said, it's rather old-fashioned.