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A fort is a stronghold and that’s what’s at the root of comfortable.
Comfortable is made up of three parts each of which comes to us via Old French and ultimately Latin. We’ll start at the end with -able. This suffix has a meaning of “likelihood,” so that something that is comfortable is likely to give comfort, someone who is agreeable is likely to agree, something that is stable is likely to stay or stand.
The com- in comfortable was once a con —but that didn’t mean “not” as in pros and cons, it is a prefix that intensifies the main meaning of the word. Con appears also in other words, so that confess literally means “intensely declare” and confide means “intensely trust.”
When comfort first appeared in English in 1225 it meant “encouragement” and “support”—and we still give each other comfort during trying times. So that the literal meaning of comfort makes sense; intensifying someone’s strength, their fortitude.
Our word for today, comfortable, appeared 200 years later and still held it’s meaning of giving moral support for 300 years or so until 1770 when it took on the more soft and cushy meaning that chairs and couches evoke.
Five days a week Charles Hodgson produces
Podictionary – the podcast for word lovers, Thursday episodes here at OUPblog. He’s also the author of
Carnal Knowledge – A Navel Gazer’s Dictionary of Anatomy, Etymology, and Trivia as well as the audio book
Global Wording – The Fascinating Story of the Evolution of English.
iTunes users can subscribe to this podcast
A fort is a stronghold and that’s what’s at the root of comfortable.
Comfortable is made up of three parts each of which comes to us via Old French and ultimately Latin. We’ll start at the end with -able. This suffix has a meaning of “likelihood,” so that something that is comfortable is likely to give comfort, someone who is agreeable is likely to agree, something that is stable is likely to stay or stand.
The com- in comfortable was once a con —but that didn’t mean “not” as in pros and cons, it is a prefix that intensifies the main meaning of the word. Con appears also in other words, so that confess literally means “intensely declare” and confide means “intensely trust.”
When comfort first appeared in English in 1225 it meant “encouragement” and “support”—and we still give each other comfort during trying times. So that the literal meaning of comfort makes sense; intensifying someone’s strength, their fortitude.
Our word for today, comfortable, appeared 200 years later and still held it’s meaning of giving moral support for 300 years or so until 1770 when it took on the more soft and cushy meaning that chairs and couches evoke.
Five days a week Charles Hodgson produces
Podictionary – the podcast for word lovers, Thursday episodes here at OUPblog. He’s also the author of
Carnal Knowledge – A Navel Gazer’s Dictionary of Anatomy, Etymology, and Trivia as well as the audio book
Global Wording – The Fascinating Story of the Evolution of English.
NOT!
www.littlebigtop.blogspot.com
After a long night of making water in one's paper trousers, nothing says "comfort" like a fresh diaper first thing in the morning!
The current challenge on another illustration blog is "comfortable."
If you are too young to remember when "
The Tonight Show" was hosted by Johnny Carson, then you probably don't remember Myron Cohen. Myron Cohen was a textile salesman working in New York City's "
Garment District". Early in his career, he developed client relationships by telling jokes. Pretty soon, his jokes became more popular than his merchandise. Customers urged Cohen to become a comedian. In the early 1950s, Cohen left his job in the fabric industry and began performing in nightclubs. In his act, Cohen told long stories, enunciating each word in beautifully cultured English. He contrasted that by sprinkling masterfully mimicked New York Yiddish accents throughout his narrative. His nightclub performances proved very popular and led to numerous appearances on "
The Ed Sullivan Show" and "The Tonight Show" during the 1960s. He also recorded several popular comedy albums.
Here is one of my favorite Myron Cohen jokes:
An old man is crossing the street in the Garment District and gets hit by a car. An ambulance arrives and two emergency workers carefully lift the old man onto a stretcher. As they are carry him to the ambulance, one of the EMTs asks the the old man, "Are you comfortable?" In obvious pain, the old man looks up and says, "I make a nice living."
Myron Cohen passed away in 1986.
these really do look like "cruel shoes"....great illustration !!!