How Words Go Bad: The Science of Pejoration
Why did "silly" once mean "blessed," and "villain" just mean "farmhand"? This post explores pejoration, the fascinating linguistic process where a word's meaning drifts to become more negative. We dive…
Tag: taboo
The Euphemism Treadmill: Why We Can’t Stop Inventing New Words for Old Taboos
Ever wonder why we have a dozen words for the toilet? This is the "euphemism treadmill," a linguistic cycle where our polite words for taboo subjects inevitably become tainted by…