The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1906-12-02

English pntlOlog1sc now N THIS
country. "but there 10 certainly some
tendency In words. as there Is IN hu-
man nature. that is in thu nature OF
degeneration.
Through the kindness OF the author
ity mentioned the writer - enabled to
give the following interesting exam
pies OF word degeneracy:
word comes into the world like a
babe, in a state of innocence. Observe
1t a few centuries. or even a few de-
cades later, and the chances are that
you will find it coarsened If not actu-
ally soiled- To take a very simple and
obvious instance, one would say that
knowledge was an idea so definite
and excellent that it could not take on
any unworthy significance. Yet to say
that a person is knowing" is not al
ways an unadulterated compliment; 1t
suggests wisdom plus certain other
qualities that had no place in the orig
inal meaning. Still more sad Is the case
of the word cunning" etymologically
identical with knowledge" but now so
far removed from it that only students
of language know that the words are
related. Think, too, of our forefathers'
euphemism for a witch-"'wise wo-
man" wise with wisdom as the Gun
ming man Is learned with the know
ledge of an inferior world to this.
The same debasing influence may be
seen in such words as notorious" This
word has not gone very far on the
downward path, as has, for instance,
"enormity." but IL has long since ac-
quired the specific meaning OF fame in
an evil sense. GU can call an anar-
chist notorious. but not a statesman. It
is only within recent times, probably
since the arrival of musical com edy.
that the push has been given the word
suggestive" You may still speak
with perfect correctness of Suggest
i've book or a Suggestive sermon as
one charged with thought. but when
YOU speak Of a suggestive play it is
not as rule It's intellectual quality to
which you wish TO call attention. 1t Is
merely by the differentiation OF spell
ing, modern innovation, that the
word holiday has been saved from a
similar though not so sinister. double
meaning. Quite analogous Is the.
change in the word imp" Did not
Bacon's Pathway Unto prayer ask all
true Britishers 10 pray for the preser-
walton of the Kings Most Excellent
Majesty, and for the prosperous success
of his entirely beloved son. Edward,
that most angelic imp
An extraordinary case OF degrade
tion Is shown in the case OF the word
silly" which has very nearly COM
pieted the circle Of significance. In
Anglo-Saxon times 1t meant simply
blessed" Then it came TO be assoc.
ciated with the idea OF harm1essness,
then OF weakness. theR OF simplicity
and then OF fooltsnness-
The misadveltures Of Silly" are not
more pathetic than those Of certain III
fated words which in the whirligig OF
time have to bear precisely tina oppo-
site of their original meaning. We do
not associate the word ''beldam" with
beauty. yet 1t is derived from the
French belle DAME" fair lady. Milton
without the least idea OF depreciation.
spoke Of "beldam Nature.
''Egregious'' is another word IN point
Etymologically it means a person apart.
a sheep out of the fold. II Is now
used exclusively as a term OF con-
tempt.
What Is TO be the result OF this
downward tendency? 1t would seem that
In the. distant future there will be a
much greater variety of words to ap-
ply TO the lower side OF life than to
the higher. The novelist OF the fu-
ture may have to be a realist simply
because of the greater specialization
of the language. AS it is, any OBJ
servant and careful writer can tell you
that there is a far larger choice OF
adsectives to be applied to the alb
normal and the terrible than to the
ordinary and beneicent