This is the second in the Etymology series and features the words polka dot, cute, and nice. All the words in the video are further explained below for your convenience.
The video may not play due to “safety mode”. To turn off safety mode,
- Scroll to the bottom of any YouTube page and click the drop-down menu in the “Safety” section.
- Select the On or Off option to enable or disable this feature.
Alternatively you can visit LaureNews on Internet Explorer to avoid safety mode entirely.
1. Polka Dot
A fashion statement and the chicken pox have something in common.
It didn’t come as a surprise when I learned the word polka dot originates (vaguely) from the Polka dance. Apparently the dance took Britain and America by storm in the 1840’s. In an effort to jump on the fad manufacturing companies decided to name a slew of products after the Polka. Of these “polka phrases” polka dot seems to be the only surviving one still regularly used.
2. Cute
Puppies are cute, kids are cute, old people are cute. What is cute?
The word cute has changed its meaning drastically in the last few centuries. In the 1700’s cute was a derivative of the word acute and meant “cunning, sharp, or quick-witted”. At some point in the early 1900’s Americans morphed the word into a completely different meaning and slang made it into “attractive or charming”. According to Google’s dictionary the modern definition of cute means “attractive in a pretty or endearing way”.
3. Nice
Friends are pretty nice indeed.
Perhaps the most interesting and transformed word origins are that of the word nice. Although today it has a generally positive connotation and meaning it wasn’t always so. According to WordOrigins.org nice originally meant “silly, simple, and unsophisticated”, but really comes from a latin term meaning ignorant. Eventually nice came to mean many things, some of which were antonyms of each other. During this time of, shall we say, identity finding the current meaning of nice solidified.
So there you have it! Hope you learned a lot 🙂
Works Cited
http://www.wordorigins.org/index.php/polka_dot/
http://www.wordorigins.org/index.php/cute/
http://www.wordorigins.org/index.php/nice/
Pictures
wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/White_polka_dots_on_black_cotton_fabric.JPG
c1.staticflickr.com/1/246/520495178_95dee0a1b2.jpg
fc03.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/343/d/c/my_fingers_by_zita952-d5ni3an.jpg
th09.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2014/049/6/e/mr_happy_by_mighty355-d770g0e.png
LaureNews 