Thursday, March 9, 2023

Language Of Confusion: Snug Fits

It’s -Verse part… no, wait. I finally finished that series. I actually have to come up with something new!
 
Tight showed up in the fifteenth century, meaning dense or close at first, then becoming drawn or stretched in the late sixteenth century. The word comes from the Middle English thight—weirdly enough, it’s from the Old Norse þettr, which itself is related to the Old English suffix, -þiht. All of those words are from the Proto Germanic thinhta-, from the Proto Indo European root tenk-, to thicken or become firm.
 
Speaking of stretch, it showed up in the late twelfth century meaning a patch of land, not meaning stretching out something until sometime before the sixteenth century (the exact timing’s a little unclear). It comes from the Old English streccan, and before that the Proto Germanic strakjanan, but where that one comes from is unknown. One theory is it’s related to the word stark (which used to mean rigid or stiff, so I guess maybe), and another is that it’s from the same root as string which I think makes more sense. But you know. Words.
 
Snug showed up in the late sixteenth century, and b this word as weird as you might think. It originally meant compact or trim, then a state of comfort in the early seventeenth century, and “fit closely” by 1838, and snuggle showed up in the late seventeenth century, likely from the whole state of comfort thing. As for its origins, snug is thought to be Scandinavian in origin (but, you know, maybe not), and it might come from the Proto Indo European root kes-, to scratch. That actually has another descendant—xyster, a surgical instrument for scraping bone. I know it’s entirely possible, if not likely, that snug and xyster aren’t related, but WOW if they are.
 
I think I’ll end things here, short and sweet after the end of the multi-part slog. Turn in next week, for the next multi-parter!
 
Sources
Online Etymology Dictionary
Omniglot
University of Texas at Austin Linguistic Research Center
University of Texas at San Antonio’s page on Proto Indo European language
University of Texas at Arlington
Tony Jebson’s page on the Origins of Old English

5 comments:

  1. Not too many Scandinavian words show up, so amusing snug is one of them.

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  2. I've heard of snug in the context of comfort.

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  3. Fascinating! I wonder, with social media, if our language will morph even more quickly or if we'll become more standard in our language because we're no longer separated because of geography. Thanks for doing the work on this one!

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  4. Snug sounds like a Scandinavian word. And if any people need to get snug, it's the Scandis with all that cold weather up there.

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  5. And then tight became one of the more annoying slang terms...

    Since medical terms (so surgical instruments, too) are largely chosen from older words with an eye to original meanings, snug and xyster being related does not surprise me.

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Please validate me.