The Unexpected Evolution of Language Read Online Free PDF Page B

her limbs.
    bathroom
    ORIGINAL DEFINITION: room equipped with a bathtub
    NEW DEFINITION: room equipped with a toilet
    The word “bathroom” began to appear in writing by the end of the 1700s. At that time, its meaning was quite literal. The bathroom was a room with a bathtub.
    The timeline makes sense if one compares it to the history of the flushing toilet. Sure, those wily Greeks invented a primitive flush toilet for King Minos of Crete some 800 years before the birth of Christ. The Romans invented sewers and had outhouses. Queen Elizabeth had a flush toilet, invented for her by her godson.
    But it wasn’t until the mid-1800s that indoor plumbing became “de rigeur.” By that time, a word that had emphasized bathing became a word that referred to a room with a toilet. Bathtubs, or the lack of one, became less important than the presence of a toilet because, after all, it was gross and gauche to mention unmentionable (though very necessary) toileting activities. Thus, by the early 1900s, the word became almost strictly a euphemism for “place to go relieve oneself.”
Unmentionable Activities
Bathroom and restroom are the main words used to denote “place that includes a toilet.” At various times, that place also has been called a privy chamber, a necessary room, the smallest room in the house, and even “where the queen goes alone.”
Even in the twenty-first century, some blanch at the prospect of mentioning the porcelain throne. So, it’s no surprise that English has amassed tons of euphemisms for the activities that actually go on in the bathroom.
For “poop,” the squeamish have or have had the following: pick a daisy, pluck a rose, bury a Quaker, go to the prayer house, go to the thinking place, spend a penny, do one’s duty, and—during World War II—go call on Hitler.
For “pee,” consider the following: shake the dew off the lily, shake hands with my wife’s best friend, water the roses, and make room for another beer.
    belfry
    ORIGINAL DEFINITION: siege tower (slightly different spelling)
    NEW DEFINITION: bell tower, often connected to a church
    Now associated with churches (and people who have “bats” in theirs), “belfry” once was a word of war.
    During the mid-to-late Middle Ages, a belfry was a moveable siege tower. At that point, it was spelled “berfrey” or “berfrei.” Troops would bring their catapults and clubs and spears onto the battlefield, while some poor grunts pushed the “berfry” along. Some lucky soldiers in the tower could keep a lookout for the enemy and shoot medieval missiles at them from their lofty perch.
    By the mid-1400s, “berfrey” began to refer to watchtowers in general. Someone keeping watch over a town stood in a “berfry” and looked for signs of trouble. When he saw them, he needed something with which to warn everyone of possible danger. Thus, bells were introduced to “berfries.” At that point, thanks to the bells, the word shifted to “belfry.”
    Initially, “belfry” suggested a tower not attached specifically to another building. Think, for example, of St. Mark’s Campanile, the famous belfry that stands in Venice’s Piazza San Marco. Completed in 1514, it’s a classic example of the “stand-alone” belfry. Nowadays, most bell towers are simply part of a church building itself.
    bidet
    ORIGINAL DEFINITION: a small horse
    NEW DEFINITION: a low-lying basin used to clean one’s most intimate areas
    In the 1600s, you might have taken your paramour for a ride on your “bidet.” After all, a small horse is just right for romance, since it forces its riders into close proximity.
    The word transformed due to a metonymic shift. Metonymy is a form of figurative language in which one substitutes a name for one thing with something closely related to it. For example, athletes are “jocks” because male athletes wear jockstraps. Big-business tycoons are “suits” because they wear them. The kettle doesn’t actually boil, but the water