Pagan and villain are good persons?

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It is very stange that originally both pagan and villain means those who live in the village, but now they have shifted to other meanings. How come? Some guess that it is because, in the old days, words were coined by noble who looked down village people!
 
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Tdol

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'Nice' used to mean 'stupid'. Mount Everest used to be at the bottom of the ocean. ;-)
 
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MikeNewYork

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Hong Kong Chinese said:
It is very stange that originally both pagan and villain means those who live in the village, but now they have shifted to other meanings. How come? Some guess that it is because, in the old days, words were coined by noble who looked down village people!
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Interesting observation. :wink:
 
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Tdol

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The nobles had little to do, so they were free to invent insults for there serfs. ;-(
 
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MikeNewYork

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tdol said:
The nobles had little to do, so they were free to invent insults for there serfs. ;-(
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Now we've changed "serfs" for "unwashed masses". :wink:
 
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Tdol

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We say the 'great unwashed'. ;-)
 
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Tdol

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Even if they don't.:)
 
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Casiopea

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Hong Kong Chinese said:
It is very stange that originally both pagan and villain means those who live in the village, but now they have shifted to other meanings. How come? Some guess that it is because, in the old days, words were coined by noble who looked down village people!
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I believe the term for that is pejorative. :)
 
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MikeNewYork

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Hong Kong Chinese said:
Yes I should have stolen The Da Vinci Code's thunder. It was his observation!
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I haven't read it, but I know many who have. :wink:
 
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RonBee

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Hong Kong Chinese said:
It is very stange that originally both pagan and villain means those who live in the village, but now they have shifted to other meanings. How come? Some guess that it is because, in the old days, words were coined by noble who looked down village people!
Click to expand...

It is true that the meanings of words evolve over time due to various influences. The word villain is one example of that. The nobles did not, I think, coin the word villain, but they did, apparently, use it in a disparaging way. After all, they looked down on the poor villagers, who were, after all, not nobles. :wink:

(Say: "It is very strange that originally both pagan and villain meant....")

:)
 
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