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| Sir Sumbras at the Ford by JE Millais, 1857 |
Hello, m’lovelies! I’m back from the beach and back to business. =) And while I was gone, a friend sent me a link to some awesome word etymologies, so I thought I’d share one with you today.
So. We all know the word “wend,” right? We wend our way through crowds and other things that make us take twisty paths and whatnot. But apparently back in the day wend and go were synonyms. Used interchangeably. You could wend anywhere you could go and vice versa.
In those days (of Middle English), the past tense of wend was went and the past tense of go was gaed. Then round about the 15th century, people started to like go better for whatever reason. Only, the past tenses of the synonyms got mixed up. Hence one of our most crazily irregular verbs–it’s actually a mix-up of another verb! Pretty fun, huh?
I’ll be bringing you more of the words from this list over the next couple weeks. =)
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.
My grandmother is Nanny. =) Although you put this comment on the wrong post–just want to make sure you still entered the giveaway in the right area!
The sweetest nickname is Nana, altho I am called Granny and Grannyvon sometimes, the Nana gets my attention first.
ybutler@oppcatv.com
I didn't know this, but I'm rolling "went" around on my tongue with relish now, because "wend" is one of those fabulous words I wish we used today! Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
now that's just too cooL! 🙂