MONSIEUR BOULANGER, an ordinary man, created the need for a new word. He opened a shop where you could buy and eat freshly prepared food. To attract the hungry survivors of the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) which later flooded the streets of Paris, Boulanger hung a sign on the door which said in Latin: "Come to me, omnes qui mageni labis et ego vos restoreabo ":" Anyone with stomach problems come to me and I will restore them. " Hence this establishment, supposed to restore its customers, was of course called a restaurant, which in French means "what restores".
Mr. Boulanger's inadvertent contribution to French, and ultimately to English and other languages, shows how the language evolves in response to ever-changing needs. But what exactly is language? In short, it is "the words, their pronunciation and the methods of combining them that are used and understood by a large society". A language will grow, change, shrink or even disappear, depending on the circumstances of the society which uses it and the pressures and demands placed on it. The language is constantly changing. New words are added every day as others fade away and eventually fade away from normal usage.
English is one of the richest in the world. It was taken from almost every language known to mankind. While many authorities estimate that there are as many as 600,000 words in English, this does not take into account the thousands of specialized and technological words that generally do not exist, even if they are not short dictionaries. . Taken together, the final number can reach three million words. For each idea, there are usually several different terms that it expresses in English, with different nuances of meaning.
Where do all these words come from? The study of how words are borrowed or invented to meet the changing needs of a language is not reserved for the etymologist (one who studies words and their origins). Instead, for the casual reader, a survey can be interesting, useful, and even entertaining. In fact, you might be surprised to learn the role it plays in the development of the language you speak.
Many words are borrowed
The process of borrowing words from other languages and adapting them to the new needs and wants of another "community" is almost endless. Think of the French description of the leaves of a common plant. The three French words dent de lion (pissenlit), which were perfectly appropriate, were combined, slightly anglicized and voila! - We have "dandelions".
There didn't seem to be any reason not to keep the Native American word for a vegetable that the natives presented to the first pilgrims. Obviously, it was a little insignificant. Therefore, Narragansett Askutasquash has been simply (and fortunately) abbreviated as "Squash". (Imagine asking someone at the table to pass askutasquash!) The Latin term mobile vulgus, meaning “a bustling crowd,” was also too heavy for normal use. Despite the "strenuous" efforts of "purist" language, the term was shortened to "mobile" and eventually to "mob".
The definition changes, why?
In the previous examples of words from other languages, the definition of the word remained intact after adoption. He didn't like the word "driver". Taken directly from French, it originally meant "the one who warms up". This was in fact an adequate description of the employee who, with the advent of the steam truck, had to accumulate a fair amount of steam in the vehicle's boiler in anticipation of the owner's departure. The word has survived the invention that inspired it and retains its usefulness as "responsible for driving."
Over time, the popular but incorrect use of a word will also change its definition. The word "scion", which means "scion", has often been mistakenly used to mean "rapid growth or expansion". As a result, several dictionaries now show the last definition as acceptable and even preferred.
Origin of words
But where do the words begin? Sometimes someone has to come up with a word or phrase to meet a new need or circumstance. Eventually, the term may become part of standard and acceptable use as the term becomes popular and passes the test of time. Many words were taken from the names of people whose names in the head of a "significant community" still indicated a specific idea. The name of a French finance minister has created a new word in Europe since the Seven Years' War. His strict measures were ridiculed by the most affected: the nobility. Everything that was reduced to just a sketch of its ancient substance was called a silhouette in sarcastic reference to Etienne de Silhouette, who apparently had this effect on the nobility's wallets and lifestyle.
See other examples related to a person's name or title. An Englishman, John Montague, who refused to leave the game table long enough to eat, made sure his meals were served between slices of bread. So we are not surprised to hear that he was the fourth earl with the title "Sandwich" and that that name has passed its time for his food. "Derrick", a lifting device, is named after another Englishman whose vocation is clearly similar to the definition of the word: he was an executioner at Tyburn Prison in London. General Burnside, formerly known for his bad record in the American Civil War, found a more comfortable place in history thanks to his thick mustache, commonly known as "Burnsides." Semantic curiosity made them "favorites".
Other words are derived from place names. It is especially emphasized that it is mainly popular usage that determines whether a word becomes a common part of a language. That word is "chaos", the once popular abbreviation for St. Mary's Hospital in Belém, a pioneering English institution for the humane treatment of the mentally ill. But the word means "a place or place of turbulence and confusion."
Some words are acronyms, which means that they consist of the first letters of consecutive parts of a compound term. For example, "radar" is an acronym derived from "radio sensing and range". Other words are formed by mixing two words to create a third with a slightly different meaning than one of the main words. For example, "Clash" is a mixture of "Clap" and "Crash".
Slang, or atypical vocabulary that is often extremely informal, also contributed to language development. Sometimes the jargon has reached such an educational acceptance that it has found its place in ordinary dictionaries. The word "kidnapping", which literally means "catching a child" or "toddler", has become standard English, while its two elements "catch" and "child" are generally considered a non-standard language.
How about idioms?
Idioms are expressions that have a different meaning than what is logically indicated by their partial words. But they add color and life to a language. Phrases can also have an interesting background.
To illustrate, it is said that when an Indian Maharajah was not happy with anyone, he gave him a white elephant as a gift. Because killing, giving, or working on the rare animal was strictly forbidden, the new owner was driven into poverty at the expense of food. So we have the idiomatic "white elephant".