I am a law student. In Constitutional Law, we talk about the "living Constitution." Essentially, this view of the Constitution holds that the meanings of words can morph and change over time. Man means person, the penumbra of privacy means abortion etc.
I've been thinking about words and I've concluded that, even outside the Con Law context, words can have plastic, changing meanings. My friend is going on a 1-year anniversary getaway with her boyfriend. I wished her a good time on her honeymoon. But, wait, she protesteth, we are not married! It cannot be a honeymoon, right? WRONG.
The word honeymoon has expanded beyond its "original" meaning. Honey is delicious. The moon is beautiful. Vacation is fun. Honey. Moon. 2 dear friends on a Spring Break trip to Cuba is a honeymoon. A weekend getaway to San Diego with schoolmates is a honeymoon. Perhaps even an afternoon at Coney Island with acquaintences and friendly strangers is a honeymoon.
As we have grown, so has the meaning of honeymoon. It's much more inclusive this way.
In the spirit of true Constitutional democracy, does anyone have any other suggestions of words whose meanings should change?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I have no comments about other new meanings for words. Except I have embraced "gay" coming 1.5 times full circle-happy to homo to substitute for lame to homo and back to lame. Another thing that comes to mind: okay, so honeymoon in Spanish is "Luna de Miel." Which means, literally- Honey. Moon. Now, was this because the Spaniards had never heard of such an excursion before the visogoths/vikings/berbers (I don't remember much from ancient european history, it wasn't one of my "studies") mixed stuff up? What is the word for honeymoon in other languages? I know between the blog we can summon it in French. Maybe even LaKota, eh Anna? Or Aymara, Kristina? Also, Kristina, I don't care if you're married to a man, you are gay. And I mean that in the most contemporary sense.
Post a Comment