word usage (was: Re: Storytelling-Sorry I'm late

[Robin Hilp]

Yaakov (mka Harold Feld) wrote:
> [...] The first and most important step (IMNSHO)
> is to banish all moden loqutions and slang.  I usually try to include
> society slang under this rubric.  Slang may get a cheap laugh, but I find
> it really breaks the mood and prevents me from getting into the right
> mindset.

Modernisms can be *hard* to eliminate.  You have to challenge *all* your 
assumptions about language -- including those you're not automatically 
aware of making!  Case in point: I've heard the word "blizzard" used in a 
period story involving a snow storm.

A recent NPR radio show prompted by the East American storms pointed out 
that the usage of "blizzard" to mean a severe snow storm isn't much more 
than 100 years old, and is a USA-Americanism (the announcer ascribed its 
popularity to a New York journalist) at that.  Apparently the word was in 
documented use much earlier, but with a different meaning and probably
slang usage.  

That was all news to me.  I'm pretty good about verifying etymology -- 
I'm one of those weird folx who read dictionaries for fun -- but that one 
had slipped by me!  (I looked it up.  Blizzard, 1859; origin, according 
to Webster's Ninth New Collegiate, unknown.)

Any good dictionary indicates word origins and usually the era (or even a 
specific date if the word is less than 400 years old or so).  The trick 
is remembering to look up *every* word you plan to use and to take none for 
granted.

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