What words have changed common meaning?

[theelectricnorth]

I am currently watching White Christmas, and it has got me thinking about words that have changed what people would first think of when they hear it, compared to what they would have thought 50+ years ago (or any time really).

For example, according to merriam-webster dictionary, 'gay' means:

1. Of, relating to, or characterised by sexual or romantic attraction to people of one's same sex
2. Happily excited

Now, most people I know, these days, will automatically relate 'gay' to definition number 1, however this wasn't the case x many years ago. So, I was wondering, what other words do you know that have changed 'main' definition over time?

(The part of the film that got my brain going in case anyone was wondering... Judy and Phil were talking about engagement:
Judy: Of course, it's got to be a man.
Phil: That's an absolute must.
Judy: No, no, no. I mean a mature man. You know, one with talent and experience. One that's witty, gay, charming, attractive.)

@WhileMyDishwasherGentlyWeeps Admittedly a very long time ago!🤣

I didn’t know that. But I tracked down a reliable source online and you are, of course, right.

You win the thread!

Eugh, he sounds like another word that has four letters and ends in K.

"Cute" has meant "clever, thinking out of the box" in Yorkshire for at least 30 years

I thought u meant ur Dad calls the cat a slut, but now I think he says pussy!! 😂 Got a laugh

Faggot is also a bundle of sticks used to make a fire, as well as a type of food.

A bonnet was a man's hat.

Wireless, to my grand parents that was the radio, 'transistor radio' related to the small one you could carry around as opposed to a crystal radio.

Maybe he refers to it as the tea-towel holder every time it's walking away from him

I wonder when the balance for that one tipped? Are You Being Served frequently used the innuendo, when it might still have gone either way, but was more inclined towards the rude understanding; but nowadays, only the least worldly person would ever refer to a cat as a pussy with a straight face and innocent intentions.

My Granda also calls cats 'pussy' but says it like poo-see which somehow sounds even worse!! 😂

I remember the clanger (amongst a great many) that Godfrey Bloom of UKIP dropped when he used the word slut to refer to middle-aged women whom he considered to be a bit slovenly, apparently completely unaware of the ubiquitous modern point of reference.

Also, David Cameron, who thought that twat was a similarly-innocent alternative to twit.

Is he a gangsta in da hood?!?!

😂😂😂
A retired teacher 🫣
Maybe it's an Irish thing. Makes me cringe!

What?! My Dad is also Irish and a retired teacher!!

Unless you are my sister and this is embarrassing 😳

Sissy???

No!

Must be on the curriculum at Irish teacher training colleges 😁

‘Woman’ is just..lol.

Glamorous according to another thread on here today!

Ah I was hoping to keep u going!! I don't have a sister so I hazarded(?) a guess at what you would call each other 😜

Did awful and awesome mean the same thing, then?

@FatherJackHackettsUnderpantsHamper

"I came over a little queer"

I got a laugh from my 2 kids when I said I had been feeling a little hoarse. Not one I was expecting, either.

That one would have had me chuckling for ages too!!

Bastard is another one. It used to have a very specific meaning - not something that is nice/necessary to remark on or distinguish - but it was a statement of fact.

Crucially, any imputed shame in being one would have automatically been assigned to the person's parents, rather than in the modern usage, where calling somebody a bastard means that they are somehow believed to be a bad person.

Some years ago a large group of friends and I decided to reclaim the word gay and use it in our every day language.

Examples.

We had a gay old time.

I'm feeling rather gay today.

That kind of thing.

It's a lovely word and should be used in its original context.

Enid Blyton was a big fan of 'queer' with its original meaning.

I think 'making love' didn't mean having sex but meant telling someone you love them. Can't think of specific examples but I'm sure I've read it somewhere.

Maria Montessori in her original books talks of working with retards. Yes the meaning is the same but the use is different..it's a word I find particularly offensive in any circumstances today.

🙄

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