The Death of Words

C.S. Lewis

In an article published on September 22, 1944, in The Spectator with the same title as this post, later included in the collection Of This and Other Worlds, C.S. Lewis pointed out that the meaning of many words evolves until they become mere synonyms for “good” or “bad,” and when this happens, the word is dead, because its original meaning is eventually forgotten, while the new one is useless, since the number of synonyms for “good” or “bad” continues to grow.

Lewis notes that many words, throughout history, have undergone this evolution, which transforms them from descriptive terms into insults or praises (synonyms for bad or good). He gives as examples villain, which from inhabitant of a village came to mean  a mean, evil, or unprincipled person (synonyms for bad); bastard, which from illegitimate child came to mean a person, especially one who is mean or unpleasant (another synonym for bad); or to say that someone is a gentleman, which initially referred to a profession or social category, and came to mean a man of good breeding, education, and polite manners (that is, a synonym for good).

Words die when they lose their meaning and become synonyms for other words, or when they are unnecessarily replaced by others that meant something else, or when they adopt a pejorative sense that literally burns them out. Let's look at a few modern examples:

·         Gay originally meant carefree, happy, or bright. Today it refers to homosexuality, and its original meaning has become historical and is rarely used in daily conversation.

·         Bully: Originally it meant superb or good fellow. Interestingly, this word used to mean the exact opposite of what it means today (a thug, or a ruffian).

·         Terrific was a derivative of terror. Today it has become a synonym of good and has lost its scary connotation.

·         Cancel meant that an event had been called off. Now it means that somebody is socially rejected for some reason.

·         Proselytism: According to the Merrian-Webster dictionary, it means inducing someone to convert to a religion, cause, or belief system. Originally, this word had no pejorative sense. However, it has acquired that meaning, especially in English, to the point that the Merrian-Webster has added a clarification: Often implies an aggressive or intensive effort to convert, sometimes viewed pejoratively as abusing freedom of belief. In his latest encyclical (Dilexit Nos), Pope Francis wrote this:

210. To be able to speak of Christ, by witness or by word, in such a way that others seek to love him, is the greatest desire of every missionary of souls. This dynamism of love has nothing to do with proselytism; the words of a lover do not disturb others, they do not make demands or oblige…

It is evident that Francis thought that the word proselytism means making demands, obliging, i.e. the peiorative meaning. Personally, I understand the words of Jesus Christ (Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel, Mark 16:15) as a command to proselytize in its classical sense. The Pope's words demonstrate that the death of this word is approaching, or at least a significant shortening of its meaning.

C.S. Lewis expressed it thus: The most important sense of a word is not always the most useful… When you have killed a word you have also… blotted from the human mind the thing that word originally stood for. Men do not long continue to think what they have forgotten how to say.

The same post in Spanish

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Manuel Alfonseca