Good morning to you all. Recently, I shared with you the word of the year from Dictionary.com. The word was hallucinate with a new meaning related to artificial intelligence. The new definition is “to produce false information contrary to a user’s wishes, and to present it as if it’s true and factual.” I don’t know about you, but I’ve seen and heard this word, with this meaning, quite a few times since I learned about it.
I received a few responses to that post, and one from Jason M. initiated an email conversation about how the meaning of words can change over time. Both Kara and I have written about this phenomenon in the past and included words like girl, which used to refer to any child, not just a female, and the word bully, which used to mean sweetheart or darling and was used to refer to males and females.
And today I want to share some words we didn’t cover previously. These words come from two places: IDEAS.TED.COM and A.Word.A.Day. The original meanings and the current meanings are provided below:
| Word | Old Meaning | Current Meaning |
| clue | A ball of yarn (also spelled clew) | Something that guides through an intricate procedure or maze of difficulties |
| dapper | Strong and healthy | Stylish in dress |
| divest | To undress; to deprive others of their rights or possessions | To deprive or dispossess especially of property, authority, or title |
| eerie | To feel fear | Something that inspires fear |
| egregious | Something that is distinguished or eminent | Something that is noticeable for being incorrect or bad |
| fathom | To encircle with one’s arms | To comprehend |
| flirt | To flick something away or flick it open with a brisk jerky movement | To behave amorously without serious intent |
| prestigious | Honored, esteemed, or having high status | Deceitful |
| prude | A wise or good woman | A person who is excessively or priggishly attentive to propriety or decorum |
| quell | To kill | To thoroughly overwhelm and reduce to submission or passivity; to quiet or pacify |
I’ve only included the words we never covered before. If you’d like to see our earlier posts that include even more words that have changed in meaning over the years, you can find Kara’s here: Editor’s Corner: Words Whose Meanings Have Changed | Editor’s Corner (episystechpubs.com).
And you can find mine here: Editor’s Corner: Meanings Change | Editor’s Corner (episystechpubs.com).
Kara is currently on leave, and I’ll be on vacation for the next three weeks, so you won’t receive any Editor’s Corner emails from us until mid-March. We’ll miss you. I hope you miss us!
Donna Bradley Burcher |Technical Editor, Advisory | jack henry
Pronouns she/her/hers
9660 Granite Ridge Drive, San Diego CA 92123
Symitar Documentation Services
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About Editor’s Corner
Editor’s Corner keeps your communication skills sharp by providing information on grammar, punctuation, JHA style, and all things English. As editors, we spend our days reading, researching, and revising other people’s writing. We love to spend a few extra minutes to share what we learn with you and keep it fun while we’re doing it.
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