Of Words & Ways... Quaint & Queer, Straightly Old-fashioned

courtesy: CoolChilli.in

The World, its Words & Ways

Sometimes I wonder how the meanings and nuances of words have changed over the years.

I may wish to say some word in a traditional, conventional sense, that I had grown up hearing, reading, using. But it may no longer be the same. The same word has become different in its connotations, usage.

The Same Has Become Different... Queer, Is It Not?

The same word is now different. So much so that it may also not be used without careful thought. One may use it innocently, but it may raise hackles, ruffle otherwise calm feathers.

The Older One Thinking The Younger One, Old-fashioned!

Some time ago, a retired Senior Executive from an Ad firm remarked that I write in an old-fashioned way. I wondered at his comment... imagine he was 10 years elder to me. But then as an advertising professional, he was surely more in touch with the times. Obviously, he had to have the pulse of the modern-day reader/ consumer.

As I Set About Writing This Note...

As I set about writing this note (meaning as I began writing this note), I also had the queer feeling of having used the phrase Set About in a different context in another post. While proof-reading this note, I realized where and hence the link as above. I 'googled' to check... and voila... it meant an old-fashioned way of saying '...... '. Which is what I had in mind for the earlier post.

Set About

Take a guess. Any idea what 'Set About' means archaically? Many of you would not be continuing to live too much in the past... unlike an 'archaic-eologist' like me. Sometimes I unwittingly even find a way to say the same thing in a more 'old-fashioned' manner. As the gentleman above opined, I maybe straightly old-fashioned in my usage of words. Each of us irrespective of our orientation or disposition otherwise, may take pride in being queer in our own quaint ways as long as we are inclusive.