I love finding words that Shakespeare was the one to introduce to us…or at least, the first one we have record of. Goes to show the power of a writer, right? 😉
Did you know that hint also comes to us in its current meaning of “an indirect suggestion intended to be caught by the knowing” via Shakespeare as well? It’s true! He first used it right around 1600. It traces from Middle English hinten, which meant “to inform,” which is in turn from Old English hentan, which means “to seize.”
The noun form pre-dates the verb by about 40 years. By the late 1700s, the OED also records the meaning of “a small piece of practical information.” You know, like “I like coffee and chocolate. Hint, hint.” 😉
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Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.