ArcaMax

And now the renowned linguistic paleontologist Professor U. Stew Mean examines verbal fossils to discover the former meanings of words...

Hmmm... Here's the expression "walk tall," meaning walk proudly, bravely. True, "tall" could refer to physical height alone, and, yes, people do stand up straight when they're trying to look bold.

Aha! An obsolete meaning of "tall" is courageous, valiant. In 1604, for instance, the historian Meredith Hanmer wrote of a battle, "Both sides lost many a tall man." (Was it a basketball game?) It's this "brave" meaning that still walks tall in "walk tall."

Hmmm... Here's the term "midwife," meaning a person who helps women deliver babies. But not every midwife is a wife.

Aha! "Wife" once meant not only a married woman but any woman. This also explains why the term "housewife" was sometimes used in old texts to refer to a woman who keeps house, even though she's unmarried.

Hmmm... In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote, "let facts be submitted to a candid world." Why would he characterize the world as being candid, that is, open, honest and frank?

Aha! "Candid" once meant unprejudiced, fair, objective. Thus, Jefferson was asking that his facts be presented, not to an honest world, but to an unbiased one.

Hmmm... An altruistic humanitarian who travels to Africa to help the sick is said to be on an "errand of mercy." But isn't an errand a short trip taken on some trivial or ordinary business?

Aha! An obsolete meaning of "errand" is "mission," and it's this lofty sense that survives in the phrase "errand of mercy." The Puritans who settled in New England, for instance, called their venture an "Errand in the Wilderness," and, no, it wasn't an "I'm gonna run across the Atlantic to pick up a gallon of milk" kind of errand.

Hmmm... Here's the Museum of Natural "History," but many of its exhibits depict not only flora and fauna of the past, but living species and contemporary ecosystems.

Aha! "History" once meant any story or description, whether or not it took place in the past, and this meaning pertains in "natural history."

Hmmm... The legal term "criminal conversation" refers to adultery. But if a man and woman are simply conversing, why is that considered adultery?

Aha! "Conversation," which literally means "a turning together," once meant fornication. So "criminal conversation," which seems to refer to discourse, actually refers to intercourse.

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Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Connecticut, invites your language sightings. His book, "Mark My Words," is available for $9.99 on Amazon.com. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via email to WordGuy@aol.com or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254.

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