Awful: Awful things used to be “worthy of awe” for a variety of reasons, which is how we get expressions like “the awful majesty of God.”.Silly: Meanwhile, silly went in the opposite direction: in its earliest uses, it referred to things worthy or blessed from there it came to refer to the weak and vulnerable, and more recently to those who are foolish.Nice: This word used to mean “silly, foolish, simple.” Far from the compliment it is today!.Here is just a small sampling of words you may not have realized didn’t always mean what they mean today. Words have been changing meaning - sometimes radically - as long as there have been words and speakers to speak them. The good news: History tells us that we’ll be fine. How in the world are we all going to communicate effectively if we allow words to shift in meaning like that? We sometimes notice words changing meaning under our noses (e.g., unique coming to mean “very unusual” rather than “one of a kind”) - and it can be disconcerting.
Words change meaning over time in ways that might surprise you. Language historian Anne Curzan takes a closer look at this phenomenon, and shares some words that used to mean something totally different. Words change meaning all the time - and over time.
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