More kids
Last week’s post on
synonyms for child was just a
start. Here are some more ways we might refer to young folk.
In 1793 the word toddler came to English. Its source
was the English verb toddle, which showed up in 1600. Toddle
may have come from totter, or from another English verb from the 1500s meaning to toy or play.
Lass came to English in 1300 from a
Scandinavian source, though etymologists can’t decide which one. Some suggest
the source was an Old Swedish word meaning unmarried
woman, some posit lass came from a West Frisian source
meaning light & thin, and some
suggest a Norse source for lass – a word meaning idle & weak. Though I hold nothing
against the Norse, it would be nice to hear some future word historians
disprove that possibility.
Though many of us might assume the English word lad
had its source in the Scottish words lad & laddie, the Scots borrowed
those words from English in the 1540s, more than two centuries after ladde
appeared in English. In 1300 it meant both foot solider & young male
servant. Like lass, lad’s source has etymologists’ collective
knickers in a twist. Some suggest lad comes from a Middle English word
meaning one who is led. Other word
sleuths argue for a Norwegian word meaning young
man, while those aforesaid Norse provide the most unlikely & intriguing
possibility. It seems there was a time when pejorative terms associated the slandered
subject with shoes, socks or stockings
(I’m not making this up). The Old Norse word for woolen stockings or hose was ladd, and may have been the source
for our modern word lad, though if so, it came through boys being referred to as
the equivalent of fools.
And of course, there are the deliciously negative terms born in
1960s, rugrat & anklebiter.
Any thoughts about all these childish words? Please
say so in the comments section.
Big thanks to this week’s sources: Etymonline, Wordnik, Collins Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, & the OED.
These are great fun! They still use the word "Lass" to mean unmarried woman in parts of northeast England settled by Vikings, so I'd go with that source. They also call small children "bairns," which I know comes from Scots, but I'll bet that has a Viking origin, too.
ReplyDelete