Brigid Daull Brockway is technically a writer

Brigid Daull Brockway is technically a writer

A blog about words, wordplay, and etymology, with slightly more than occasional political rants.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Goodwill toward men

I noticed the other day that someone who is thrifty is the opposite of spendthrift. Weird, right? So I looked it up, and thrift used to mean wealth, so a spendthrift is somebody who spends their wealth. 
Another thing like that - bride and bridegroom. I find that one funny because historically, the men were in charge of the relationship, so you'd think that he'd be more than an accessory at the wedding, ya know? I'm probably reading too much into it, but reading too much into stuff is kind of my thing.
Then there's the fact that ravel and unravel mean the same thing. How the heck did that happen? And flammable means the same thing as inflammable, which is just silly.
Sorry this post isn't particularly inspired. I've been tired.

1 comment:

Anthony said...

Now I'll have "I've Been Tired" by the Pixies in my head all day, so some good has come of this.

ShareThis