Things you wish you could say

When I list locally to sell some of my Ameraucana pullets some people have the audacity to tell me they only paid $4 or $5 for theirs! How dare I try to rip people off! It's very satisfying to explain to them the confusion the feed store and hatcheries create trying to sell EE's as true Ameraucana's. I also make sure to tell them EE's are wonderful layers and I have some of those too. When I first started someone on here corrected me in no uncertain terms about their origins. I am still thankful for that, even though it embarrassed me profusely!
 
Language is fluid.
It certainly is. My Grandmother was a teacher and I have her dictionary published in 1911. If you used some of the words in it, people would have no idea what you were talking about.
Also have her 1917 set of encyclopedia. Always fun to browse through. So many things haven't happened yet. Not only is language fluid but maps are as well.
 
Yeah, words and word meanings inevitably change over time, and some of the stories behind those changes are interesting. I kind of like the example of "sanguine", it originally meant blood / blood red, but then came medieval medicine with the idea of "bodily humors" like blood, phlegm, etc. They thought that the predominance of a particular humor had an impact on one's temperament, so "sanguine" was used to signify the predominance of blood, which was thought to come with an optimistic temperament. So that's why sanguine is now sometimes used to mean optimistic. I think "phlegmatic" has a similar origin.
 
Yeah, words and word meanings inevitably change over time, and some of the stories behind those changes are interesting. I kind of like the example of "sanguine", it originally meant blood / blood red, but then came medieval medicine with the idea of "bodily humors" like blood, phlegm, etc. They thought that the predominance of a particular humor had an impact on one's temperament, so "sanguine" was used to signify the predominance of blood, which was thought to come with an optimistic temperament. So that's why sanguine is now sometimes used to mean optimistic. I think "phlegmatic" has a similar origin.
Very true. I was a medical history interpreter for the NPS. My talk would start, "Our medicine (1814) is based on the Galan system of the Humors; Blood, Phlem, Black Bile and Yellow Bile. We restore their balance by Bleeding, Blistering, Purging and Puking."
 
I came across a motto that I like, it's "if you hate me, then kill me or shut the _ up". I'm going to say it when I interact with people who clearly dislike me.
My favorite saying in a difficult situation was "Give it your best shot", sometimes followed by "I'll just take the hit". I don't say that since Katrina.
 
Yeah, words and word meanings inevitably change over time, and some of the stories behind those changes are interesting. I kind of like the example of "sanguine", it originally meant blood / blood red, but then came medieval medicine with the idea of "bodily humors" like blood, phlegm, etc. They thought that the predominance of a particular humor had an impact on one's temperament, so "sanguine" was used to signify the predominance of blood, which was thought to come with an optimistic temperament. So that's why sanguine is now sometimes used to mean optimistic. I think "phlegmatic" has a similar origin.
Sinister used to mean left handed. It changed meaning because people who were left handed were considered untrustworthy and possibly evil.
 

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