Every language changes over the decades. There are new words and old words gets different meanings and others get old-fashioned. That's how languages works and that's great.
I really like how peopled talked 100 years ago or even earlier, but honestly, I'm glad that I don't have to talk like that!
I'm sure you know which words are old-fashioned in English and you know which words are now used in different ways and mean something different.
I'm familiar with "old" language as well...but only in German...
I'm reading "The Secret Garden" by Frances Hodgson Burnett at the moment. First published in 1911.
I haven't finished it yet, but I want to tell you two things that happened while reading the first pages of the book.
1. In the middle of the first page you can read this sentence: "...her mother had been a great beauty who cared only to go to parties and amuse herself with gay people."
Guess which word made me stunned. Yes, it's the word "gay".
I only knew this word as a word for homosexual people, so I was quite surprised to read this word in a book published in 1911. And I thought "why does a woman want to hang out with gay people"?
I had no dictionary with me, so I decided that the author had some strange ideas and I continued reading.
I checked the word "gay" later and found out, that it is not only a word for homosexual people, but also for cheerful people who love fun.
Well...I think that's what the author wanted to say... ;)
My question: Do you still use the word "gay" for cheerful people? I've never heard it before...
2. The word queer.
I knew what the word queer means. It means something like strange or weird. But again it is also a word often associated with homosexuals. And that's why I know the word. Every time I read the word "queer" I automatically think the word "homosexual" the same time. It's a bit annoying, but what shall I do? Most of the time (and that isn't very often) I hear or read the word queer it HAS to do something with homosexuals.
In "The Secret Garden" the word queer appears in nearly every paragraph (the author was amazingly creative... *cough*). It's the most used word in the book. She used it for everything. Women in queer grand costumes, a queer morning, a queer place etc.
I don't want to see this word anymore!!! ;)
I wanted to share this with you, because I would like to know how often and in what way these two words are nowadays used and I wanted to show you the difficulties you come across when you read and use a foreign languages.
Have a wonderful, lovely weekend! :)
I grew up with my mom reading to me a lot of English poems and nursery rhymes. "Gay" was a common word, so I used "gay" (to mean happy, of course) all the time.
ReplyDeleteIt was not until I was 9 when I heard schoolmates use it to mean "a feminine man."
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I also used to have an art teacher named Happy. She said she had a twin whose name was "Gay." Too bad for her twin, the word has evolved.
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I have a question. Did you grow up speaking English, or did you study it? :) I was thinking of my Spanish. I'm studying it, and I don't know if I'll ever be fluent in it.
Yes, it is very strange how language changes!!
ReplyDeletelol This is funny, up until the time I was 12 or so I used the word gay and meant "fun, happy, ect." Then I learned how they use it now and I was very upset. The world has ruined a good word for me. The same with queer, meaning "strange" I still use it that way.
ReplyDeleteI hate it that there are words that you can't use anymore because their meanings have been drastically changed in these times. I actually never think "homosexual" when I think or read "queer". And I try not to think it when I read "gay", because a lot of the books I read are from the time period where they used it to mean (I still think that is the true meaning) happy, joyful, etc. Oh, and 'The Secret Garden' was written by a woman, Frances Hodgson Burnett. :)
ReplyDelete~Autumn
Autumn: oops, a woman? I thought Frances is a name for a boy... ;)
ReplyDeleteIt's good that you think of queer in gay the original way. It's hard for me, because I knew those words just for their new meaning for several years.