Etymology Game

It was an erotic poem by Thomas Nash where the girl uses the device to satisfy herself after her lover is premature.

My little dildo shall suplye their kind,
A knave that moves as light as leaves by winde;
That bendeth not, nor fouldeth anie deale,
But stands as stiff as he were made of steele,
And plays at peacock twixt my leggs right blythe.

There is nothing in the poem to suggest that the author invented the word. So it probably was in wide use verbally for some time.

Shakespeare invented over 1700 of our common words by changing nouns into verbs, changing verbs into adjectives, connecting words never before used together, adding prefixes and suffixes, and devising words wholly original

I remember seeing dildo's in wall paintings
done 1800 years ago in some Roman bath.
They have been around forever.

Prior to 1500 the six forms (I be, thou beest, he beth, we beth, ye ben, they be) became standard in English

But gradually they were replaced with four forms (I am, he is, we are, and they are) as the familiar forms were completely lost.

The only non-dialectal survival of be in this sense is "the powers that be" (TPTB) . The phrase first appeared in the William Tyndale's 1526 translation of the New Testament. TPTB was also used in the King James bible in 1611 and from there passed into popular use.

In southwest England, "we be" (in Devonshire "us be") remains non-standard idiom as a contradictory positive
("You people are not speaking correct English." "Oh, yes we be!")



But today "we be" has reappeared in African-American vernacular (AAVE) in what is known as the "habitual be". The difference is best explained by a

Quote: 2005 University of Massachusetts study on "habitual be"

Groups of black and white children were shown images from Sesame Street. In the crucial picture, a sick Cookie Monster languished in bed without any cookies, while Elmo stood nearby eating a cookie.

“Who is eating cookies?” Jackson asked her test subjects, and all of them indicated Elmo.
“Who be eating cookies?” Jackson then asked. The white kids replied that it was Elmo, while the black kids pointed to Cookie Monster.

After all, it is the existential state of Cookie Monster to be eating cookies, while Elmo just happened to be eating a cookie at that moment. Cookie Monster, to those conversant in AAE, be eating cookies, whether he is eating cookies or not. The kids in Jackson’s experiment picked up on the subtle difference when they were as young as 5 or 6.

Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese all have a different verb for action at the moment than for an "existential state". It causes a great deal of confusion to English speakers.

Since the vernacular is more nuanced, should we teach the vernacular as standard English?

Definitely well over 200 years ago, more likely 400 years ago.

Now what about a pickled deer? A dill doe.

"He be here" means he is frequently here and might be here now and might not be here now.

Words like 'to do' or 'to turn' change meanings.

Think of Big Rock Candy Mountain... a song warning hobos of homosexual dangers.

And think of 'to do' in the sense of Gypsies where a "good doer'' means a Gypsy who cheats alot of people skillfully. Or 'to do' means to serve, often involuntarily. And 'to serve' means to dominate in the sense of cop cars mottos 'to protect and to serve'....it means dominate to cops.

Ask viewers of 'candid camera' and you will probablly get some strange meanings for the word 'candid'.

Quote: Pacomartin

Since the vernacular is more nuanced, should we teach the vernacular as standard English?

Ebonics is not standard English and should be treated as street slang.

I agree that ebonics should not be elevated to being acceptable but what about such words as 'aggravate'? Should we teach that it means 'to annoy' merely because so many ignorant people think that it means to annoy rather than to increase?

Quote: Fleastiff

I agree that ebonics should not be elevated to being acceptable but what about such words as 'aggravate'? Should we teach that it means 'to annoy' merely because so many ignorant people think that it means to annoy rather than to increase?

Too late flea that definition is already added. To quote Merriam Webster:

"2
a
:
to rouse to displeasure or anger by usually persistent and often petty goading •were aggravated by the noise and traffic"

Quote: Wizard

Ebonics is not standard English and should be treated as street slang.

That was a strong gut reaction, but it isn't really what I said. I don't think the AAVE should be taught in schools as an alternative English.

There are some forms in the vernacular that are simply very old English. In the test outlined, there is a some meaning lost in modern English that is present in the romance languages.

In English the following simple sentence can have two possible meanings.
The apple is green. (Meaning the apple is not ripe.) - condition
The apple is green. (Meaning the color of the apple is green.) - essence

In Spanish a different verb distinguishes the two meanings
La manzana está verde. The apple is green. -condition
La manzana es verde. The apple is green. -essence

Another example might be the ancient English pronoun, singular "ou": "'Ou will' expresses either he will, she will, or it will." Many people have said that they wish that there was a gender neutral pronoun in English. A dozen proposals have been made including
E is laughing | I called Em | Eir eyes gleam | That is Eirs | E likes Emself

My question is not to teach Ebonics and standard English, but if some ancient English forms should be revived. However some of the old forms are still part of AAVE.

Another old English form is "Thou" for the "familar you", like the Spanish "tu".Because we only see the word "thou" in poems and religious texts, it is often thought of as high English, but it is really just a familiar pronoun.

What about the English (UK) sentence: I should sit down. This means, of course, you should sit down.

Quote: Wizard

I'm sure dildos have been around as long as there have been cucumbers and carrots

Wild carrots have small, thin roots with a purplish tint, and look more like roots. It took a lot of domestication to make them thick, orange and edible.

No idea what wild cucumbers are like, but I know they're capable of interbreeding with cantaloupes. Think about it, and a cucumber is a less sugary, colorless cantaloupe in cylindrical form.