25 Words That Have Lost Their Original Meanings

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http://list25.com/25-words-that-dont-me ... nally-did/

I knew that "villian" originally meant "a resident of a village (ie a country bumpkin).

Long noticed that both the words "awesome", and "awful", contain "awe". Both mean "to inspire awe". But awesome means in a good way, and awful in a bad way.

But according to that list (though they didnt think to say it in so many words) "awesome", and "awful" have apparently swapped conotations.

Gay

Just a small example of the English language getting corrupted over time. I'm old enough to remember when 'gay' meant happy.

villain was spelled "villein" back in medieval days.

"Gentle" used to have the same meaning as "genteel" has today. It was spelled "gentil."

"nice" originally meant something like naïve/impressionable.

"uptight" meant something like "all together," "cool" during the early-mid 1960's (See Stevie Wonder's song with the lyrics: "Baby, everything's all right, UPTIGHT, outasight."). Now, of course, it means "tense."

"gnarly," used to have a negative connotation.

"sophisticated". The meaning has changed to be the opposite of the original. It used to mean someone who was fake and shallow who pretended to be the opposite.

Yep...that was a Sophist in Ancient Greece!

When I was a kid, many kept saying to me. "You're so gay." At the time, I had no idea what it meant other than it meaning "happy."

Sort of.

A sophist was a someone skilled at making convincing false arguements.

Isn't that what ego tripping individuals like to call themselves today? "sophisticated and intelligent stock trader". Still not lost its original meaning then

Yes-the old meaning of "gentle" survives in the word "gentleman" which means that the man in question is 'genteel' (has the social graces of an aristocrat), not that he is per se "gentle".

Another word is "steward".

It orginally meant "sty ward": the guy who takes care of the pigs.

it's true about the Sophists.

"Swive," pronounced with long i, meant "To do the Wild Thing." Now, we have "swivel" chairs, pronounced with the short i

This is a very bad list. It doesn't write anything useful or interesting, just the writer's belief on word meanings in one word or phrase and that's it.

Also, "awesome" has not changed in meaning. That would be "inspiring awe", which is "a great amount of ________ .". It could be beauty, love, terror, or several other things.

Sophisticated" also has the same meaning, since anyone who would use that word to describe someone or a place (like a restaurant) is quite obviously very shallow and trying to hide it, not to mention a fake person in general. Only the secondary meaning of "having a lot of detail" would be different, and in addition to "complicated" or "intricate" being a much better and more true word for that, that is going to be a secondary meaning rather then a change to the original, since it's so obvious that "today's" definition and the "previous" definition both still mean the same thing.