Hello,
It’s day four of Wordfoolery Book Week and time to celebrate modern words thanks to my digital-only book “Modern Words with Old Roots”, my fourth book, which I released in 2022. I particularly enjoy discovering modern words which have ancient origins. It’s easy to miss the history which is literally under our nose, plus it’s fun to surprise my teens with the roots of their supposedly cool “new” word.
The book reveals the astonishingly ancient history of a hand-picked selection of 50 modern words from avatar to zarf.
It’s time to login (inspired by an actual piece of wood), open your kindle (inspired by Vikings), forget about the latest world crisis (thanks to an ancient Greek doctor), skip the doomscrolling (with a nod to William the Conqueror), and set off in hot pursuit (from the Age of Sail) of some juicy language facts. You may be surprised by what you discover.
Words change constantly, acquiring new meanings, and finding fans in new generations. Let’s rejoice in their evolution. This one is good for word geeks and anyone who’s ever wondered about the roots of the latest trendy word.
One modern word you won’t find in the book, because it’s impossible to keep pace with teen slang, is rizz. It was named Oxford Dictionary’s Word of the Year for 2023 this week so it seemed a good time to explore it.
Rizz and Charisma
If you don’t have a teen nearby you may be asking what rizz means. Oxford tell us that rizz is somebody’s ability to attract another person via style and charm. It formed as a shortening from the middle of the word charisma. Other words formed like this include fridge from refrigerator and flu from influenza. It’s worth noting that rizz up is a common use. This means to chat up or seduce somebody.
Of course now that the boring grown-ups have noticed rizz, it’s probably been redefined as old-fashioned. That seems to be the pattern with youthful slang in my house.
Where do the old roots come in? Two words – Greek gods.
Charisma joined Middle English around 1500 when it was spelled karisme and referred to a divine gift. This sense was retained when it became charism in the 1640s and charisma in the 1800s. By the 1930s the meaning focused on the gift of leadership with a little side influence from German and it became personal charm in the 1950s, and of course rizz in more recent times.
Where was charisma before Middle English? It was a Latinised form of a Greek word kharisma (divine gift) which came from kharis (grace, beauty, kindness). One of the three attendants of the Greek goddess Aphrodite was called Charis and presumably she was beautiful, kind, and graceful. Kharis is related to the verb khairein (to rejoice at) from a Proto IndoEuropean root word gher (to like, to want).
Being charismatic has been a gift from the very start and always associated with love, longing, and attractive traits. Some things never change, but I doubt too many will think of Aphrodite’s attendants when trying their rizz today.
If you enjoy stories like these then pick up a copy of “Modern Words with Old Roots” by Grace Tierney in ebook from Amazon. It’s a digital-only exclusive, a quick read to keep you going until “Words Christmas Gave Us” (launching in 2024).
I’ve been talking about my books every day this week, so stay tuned for how to order signed copies and my book plans for 2024 tomorrow. Normal word blogging will resume next Monday.
Until next time happy reading, writing, and wordfooling,
Grace (@Wordfoolery)
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