Grim

[IfUCantDance]

Is it just me or do people use the word “grim” incorrectly a lot these days?

It means depressing, gloomy, harsh and sombre, I suppose. It’s “grim up North”, grim determination, Grim Reaper, etc. The opposite of cheery.

Someone along the line somewhere has started using it to mean “disgusting”, and I see it a LOT on Mumsnet. Often in reference to a husband who cuts his toenails at the dinner table or people who only wash their towels once a year. Is it because it sounds a bit like “grimy”? So people think it’s to do with being dirty and gross? I just don’t know. I don’t like it.

It is the evolution of language, it happens.

Do you also get frustrated about the word gay being used for homosexuality OP?

No.

I was just interested in discussion about this particular evolution (of the word grim) which seems to have happened relatively recently, and why it’s gone in this direction.

We used grim as "that's shit" as teens over 20 years ago. It's not a new evolution really.

Thinking about it a bit more I'd guess it evolved from the usage of "the weather is grim." It's probably been used in casual conversation to then describe anything that isn't nice.

Fair enough, that’s interesting. Maybe it’s more regional as I’ve only heard it used in the last five years or so (online) to mean disgusting, but I’ve always lived in Scotland so that’s my frame of reference.

I'm in the Midlands, England but used to travel a lot as a teen because I played football and it was common all over with the other kids we'd meet. Wonder if it's generational rather than regional?

I remember hearing this for the first time 20 years ago-ish, and learning that the opposite of grim is lush (by the grim speaker).