Watch Your Language Blog

Semantic Antics

Sol Steinmetz, author of SEMANTIC ANTICS, was on NPR last weekend talking about how and why words develop new meanings. Many times, a change in meaning is due to the influence of foreign models. For example:

Potpourri: a stylish word for "medley, miscellany, mixture" that carries with it a pleasant connotation. It's much used in the phrase a potpourri of __________, to suggest that the mixture is light and easy to take, as, for example, a potpourri of holiday gifts, a potpourri of travel tips, a potpourri of pop art posters. These senses of potpourri, first found in the 1840s, were figurative uses of the earlier and still current meaning, "a fragrant mixture of dried flower petals and spices, kept in a container to perfume a room or house," first recorded in 1749.

The original, and now obsolete, meaning of the word appealed mainly to the sense of smell and taste. First recorded in 1611 in Randle Cotgrave's Dictionary of the French and English Tongues, the word meant "a dish of mixed meats cooked as a stew." Potpourri was borrowed from French pot pourri "dish of mixed meats," literally, "rotten pot," a loan translation of Spanish olla podrida "a spicy stew of mixed meats," a term that came into English in the early 1600s and remained the standard name for the dish, while the French name became obsolete.

Read more about when "silly" meant "blessed," "girl" meant "boy," and "meat" was used to describe any kind of food. (HELENA)


April 7, 2008