A History of English Language

A history of the english language 292
down through the eighteenth century and even beyond. But in the time of Johnson it
occasionally carried the implication of selecting in an unfair or dishonest way, and as
used today it always signifies the intentional or unintentional mutilation of a statement so
that a different meaning is conveyed from that intended. Smug was originally a good
word, meaning neat or trim; its present suggestion of objectionable self-satisfaction
seems to have grown up during the nineteenth century. The same thing is true of vulgar
in the meaning bordering on obscene, and of pious in its contemptuous sense. Amateur
and dilettante now imply inexpertness or superficiality, although the former word still
conveys a favorable idea when applied to athletics. In England one speaks only of insects,
since the word bug has degenerated to the specialized meaning “bedbug.” A very
interesting form of degeneration often occurs in words associated with things that it is not
considered polite to talk about. In 1790 the satirist Peter Pindar wrote:
I’ve heard that breeches, petticoats and smock,
Give to thy modest mind a grievous shock
And that thy brain (so lucky its device)
Christ’neth them inexpressibles so nice. 4
Thus the common word for a woman’s undergarment down to the eighteenth century was
smock. It was then replaced by the more delicate word shift. In the nineteenth century the
same motive led to the substitution of the word chemise, and in the late twentieth century,
after various other euphemisms have come and gone, including combinations and stepins,
the usual words are bra, panties, and slip (the last of which referred to an outer
garment in the eighteenth century and an undergarment as early as the mid-nineteenth).
Changing attitudes toward this part of the vocabulary may halt the process of
degeneration and give a longer life to those terms currently in use.
4
Roland for Oliver.