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They Would Not Have Said That! Words that Didn’t Exist in the Regency Era
22 responses to “They Would Not Have Said That! Words that Didn’t Exist in the Regency Era”
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Enjoyed this!!! I had never connected ‘sanguine’ with the humors, and I’m certain you’re right about ‘country’. I also remember being told off for using the word ‘blockhead’ in one of my Austenesque novels by someone silly enough to only associate with with Charles Schulz’s Charlie Brown. (WHY aren’t we allowed to respond to fat-headed reviewers?)
I so longed to point out that not only did Shakespeare use ‘blockhead’ but SO DID JANE AUSTEN. (Mr Knightley: ‘Do you dare to suppose me so great a blockhead…’)
Grrrrrrrr.
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I think they call it the Tiffany Effect when someone that is old sounds recent, so people think it’s ahistorical. Blockhead must be one of those!
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In Austen’s day the meaning of the word “snob” was changing…from “shoemaker’s apprentice” to the more general”petty merchant”.
It wasn’t until the 1830s that the meaning changed to “low-born person putting on airs, pretending to be high-born”, and it wasn’t until the 20th century that it changed to “high-born person despising the low-born, vulgar, and tasteless”. In 100 years the word completely reversed meaning!
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Wow, that’s fascinating!
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In Emma, to describe the violence of his affections, Austen says that Mr. Elton “made violent love” to Emma during his proposal. When I teach this book to highschool students in British Lit, I always explain the phrase. Though it’s not one word, that phrase has definitely changed meanings over time. The fact that they are in a carriage just adds another layer to misunderstand for modern teenagers. Ha!
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Lol! I totally forgot “make love” when I was writing this, that’s such a good example of meaning drift! And you can easily see how it became the saying that it is now.
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Just used “Easter egg” in the modern context. I did put in an endnote acknowledging the anachronism. Of course I was writing in the Wardrobe’s universe.
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When did Easter eggs start? I have no idea!
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Actual Easter eggs – painted eggs eaten at Easter – are from early Christianity. The modern meaning – something hidden in a video game, app, or other piece of media – is from 1979.
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Ohhhhh, that makes sense!
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And, I was using it in the sense of video game “hidden stuff.”
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I love looking at the history of words and how they shift in meaning over time. I did a course once in the development of the English language, and it’s amazing to see how some words have completely changed in meaning.
Thanks for this fun post.
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You are very welcome. I would love to take that course! Most of what I know is just from reading and researching myself.
It is amazing how words mean different things in different eras! I didn’t know sanguine was an upbeat word either I thought it meant that the person was kind of sad or quiet.lol I think Henry overdid it on the “nice” in his frustration!lol
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Henry may have overdone it, but I love him for it anyway. He’s like a fun English teacher. I love to imagine him today fighting about the use of “literally”
There are many times I have to wonder about some words & then I look them up and they are older than I had thought.
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I am surprised sometimes by the words I find in Shakespeare that I thought were newer!
One of my greatest reliefs was when a noted Austenesque editor told me the “Nineteen” was all right because Austen did both Nineteen (entered the language in the 14th Century) and nine-and-ten. At least when it comes to readability, I find the XX-and-ten (or twenty, thirty…) comes off a bit odd.
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Austen didn’t use nine-and-ten; no one did. The ‘reverse’ form was only used from 21 to 99.
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Thank you for that note. I did not know that. Not a problem for me as I have standardized on what is common usage so that it is accessible to new audiences.
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Answering 2 years later…I’ve seen authors use the word “process” as in processing information someone gives you in your thoughts – that use didn’t come into use til the 1960s! Stress, in the meaning of mental and emotional stress didn’t appear till 1883. A lot wasn’t in print till the 1860s. All right, while in use in the Regency era, was more used by the working class.
You mentioned staff. Every time I see it I think, just use the word servants because yes, they did have them, and yes, they called them servants. I think they might be trying to use a nicer term.
So, I get a subscription to the Oxford English Dictionary every year because I love words, and it’s like a game to me when I read a word in JAFF to look it up to see if it was in use. Other good sites are Google books ngram viewer (shows how often a word is used), and Dr. Johnson’s dictionary from the mid 1700s.
Love your site!
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I try really hard to just use words used by Austen, and in the meaning that she used them. I do look up words a lot though out of interest.
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