The word acquired the senses of “holy, innocent, helpless,” then “pitiable” and “insignificant,” then “simple” and “ignorant.” By the mid- to late 1500s, silly had gained the meaning of “lacking good sense, foolish, irrational, ridiculous.” And sǣl meant “happiness.”ĭuring Middle English (c1150–1475), this gesǣlig developed into new forms (see our entry at the archaic word seely) and many new senses. That – ig became – y, which is all over English today, as in juicy or dreamy. That ge- is an Old English prefix that was effectively lost. Silly ultimately comes from the Old English (c.450–c1150) word gesǣlig, meaning “happy, blessed.” Talk about language change! Let’s break this gesǣlig down. Among the oldest recorded senses of silly-or, more accurately, the word that became our modern word silly-was “spiritually blessed.” Those senses are recorded in the early 1200s. For example: The politician’s promises were nothing but silly pipedreams.īut care to guess what the original sense of silly was? “ Blessed.” We’re not being silly. Something silly can also be, more dismissively, stupid. Today, we generally use the word silly to describe something as “foolish.” Something silly can be amusing, as when kids make silly faces or play silly games.

And as we see in the case of silly, the meaning of words can develop in some remarkable ways. The underlying structures of a language can shift. The sounds and forms of a language can morph. But what does that mean exactly? Well, the story of the word silly is one clear-and fascinating-illustration. We are definitely guilty of saying that here at. Tim Neville, Outside Online, 23 Nov.You have probably heard someone say that language is constantly changing. Kevin Fisher-paulson, San Francisco Chronicle, 8 June 2021 My 11-year-old loved watching the pups roll balls and play a giant floor piano, but for non-dog owners (guilty as charged), parts of the series-like dressing dogs in little hats and outfits for a Parisian fashion show-feel lame. 2023 As holidays go, however, Flag Day can feel a bit lame. Aurelien Breeden, New York Times, 7 Mar. 2023 Failing to push the bill through could turn him into a lame-duck president just a year into his second five-year term. 2023 Proponents of the sale had first tried to get the state law changed in last year's lame-duck session. 2023 Attention taxpayers:Why did Kentucky spend thousands to send lame-duck lawmakers to Hawaii? - Billy Kobin, The Courier-Journal, 24 Mar. 2023 During the 2018 lame-duck session, the legislature stripped the governorship and the attorney general’s office (which had also been won by a Democrat) of significant powers. George Skelton, Los Angeles Times, 30 Mar. 2023 Nothing much is likely to be accomplished in his lame-duck final year, 2026.

Adjective On his first day as Chicago’s mayor-elect, Brandon Johnson echoed his winning promise to rethink the city’s approach to public safety, while his lame-duck predecessor Mayor Lori Lightfoot warned him to show humility to first responders upon the heels of another firefighter death in the city.

Define lame as a noun