Notes on obsolete words
The "enter" key on a keyboard is sometimes called "return" or
"carriage return". Why is that?
A word lives on in names
Place names
- -by (probably from Old Norse byr 'habitation, village, town')
- -thorp -thorp (from Old English thorp 'village')
These names are important because they give a clue regarding settlement
patterns by Vikings vs. Anglo-Saxons.
Surnames
Cf. Baker, Cook(e), Gardner
- Archer
- Bailey
- Bowman
- Cartwright
- Chandler
- Cobbler
- Dempster
- Farrier, Ferrier
- Faulkner
- Fletcher
- Forster
- Franklin
- Hatter
- Leech
- Miller
- Sawyer
- Souter
- Spencer, Spenser
- Steward, Stuart
- Tailor, Taylor
- Tanner
- Thatcher
- Wainwright
- Webster
- Wright
Can you think of others?
A word survives, but a central older meaning dies out
Here's a list of words where an important original or older meaning has
(almost) died out. The references to senses refer to the senses listed
in the OED.
Which examples do you find particularly striking? Can you think of or
find others?
- bedlam
- broadcast
- careen, v.
- career, n.
- cheer (senses I vs. II, also the first
senses in I vs. I.6)
- cloverleaf
- craft (senses I vs. II, also sense IV)
- doubt, v. (note that sense II predates current sense I)
- fair
- farm
- fond
- gentle (senses 1-2 vs. 6-9)
- gossip (senses 1 vs. 4)
- grateful
- kid
- naughty
- pink, adj. or v. vs. pink, n.
- quick (senses I vs. III)
- require
- rude
- sad (senses I vs. II)
- silly
- straw
- throw
- travel vs. travail
- vile
- villain
- want, v.
- worship, n. (senses I vs. II)
- wretch (senses A.1 vs. A.2-3)
- wry
A word or expression survives, but only in figurative or idiomatic use
Important source domains:
- Riding and horsemanship
- Sailing and seafaring
Can you find examples from the above domains? Can you think of other
source domains?
What has gone wrong?
- to give s.o. a wide birth
- to take the reigns
- to take a different tact
Can you find any items that Jack Winter has missed?