I had a gay time at the party.

I felt so gay.

A hundred years ago, and even as late as the 1960s, the definition of gay was happy. It was also used to describe having fun, enjoying oneself. Today, however, if you want to express these sentiments appropriately, it’s better to use the words happy and fun.

I had a fun time at the party.

I felt so happy.

Reading through my grandmother’s journals, written in the 1920s, I was shocked at the number of times she wrote the word, gay. She wasn’t gay, she wasn’t feeling gay – at least, not in the twenty-first-century sense of the word. I’m not saying she didn’t respect those who would now be described as being gay. She had several in-the-closet gay friends (in-the-closet because, in the early part of the twentieth century, that’s the way things were).

Other words in the English language have been reassigned alternate meanings:

pride – gay pride parades

straight – a line might be straight, but someone who isn’t gay is also straight

I have nothing against these changes in the meanings of certain words. It adds to the interesting history of the English language. And, it gives us pause to consider when we are writing, what words are appropriate for the era about which we are writing.

The English language is constantly changing. Words have been added to the dictionary to reflect current times, as well as new meanings included in the definitions. As we evolve over time, so has our language.

Take, for instance, the following examples of words which have changed over time:

- awful – This word is constantly misused. Did you know that it actually means full of awe and wonder? I recall being shocked, as far back as the 1960s, when a friend told me I was misusing the word awful. It really doesn’t mean dreadful or frightening; it’s more like its counterpart word, awesome. When did this change? Probably about the time my friend tried to correct me, mid-twentieth century.

- cute – Now this one surprises me even more. It’s actually derived from the word, acute, and it was originally used to define someone who was sharp or quick-witted, written with an apostrophe replacing the a: ’cute. When did it change? Way back in the 1830s when Americans started using it to mean pretty or charming. However, we do, on occasion, use the word with its original meaning: Don’t be cute with me.

- spinster – This is an interesting conversion of meanings. Spinster before the Middle Ages referred to a woman who spun yarn. Sometime in the Middle Ages, it was deemed that unmarried women were meant for lower-paid work like spinning wool, hence the idea that a spinster was an unmarried woman.

- nervous – You might assume this word always referred to someone who was jittery. However, this interpretation dates from the 1600s when the Latin root of this word, nervosus (translating as sinewy, vigorous) associated the word with a medical condition, a disorder of the nervous system. By the middle of the eighteenth century, it evolved into what we understand it to mean today: restless, agitated, easily alarmed.

- nice – Now here’s a word that is grossly overused and misused. Did you know it was derived from the Latin word nescius which means ignorant? Consequently, the word nice actually began as a word that meant stupid, ignorant, and even foolish. By the fourteenth century, this changed and nice was used to describe someone finely dressed, but perhaps a little shy. By the sixteenth century, nice described a refined, polite person, somewhat the same meaning we associate with this word today.

- flirt – Here’s another cheeky word. We might think it means being coy and mirroring another’s body language to be cute and draw attention to ourselves. But, back in the sixteenth century, flirt was actually a verb that described giving someone a sharp blow or to sneer at someone.

There are many more words in the English language that have undergone multiple changes of uses and meanings. Language, any language, is in a constant change of flux. We, as writers, must be aware of the possible changes of meanings of different words and use them appropriately for the given era, the time period which we are writing about. Some words to ponder as you approach your next chapter of writing excellence. Be careful about which words you use and how you use them. They may mean something completely different from what you intend them to mean.