Soothsayer

Use this forum to discuss past Good Words.
User avatar
Dr. Goodword
Site Admin
Posts: 7417
Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 9:28 am
Location: Lewisburg, PA
Contact:

Soothsayer

Postby Dr. Goodword » Fri Mar 06, 2015 11:45 pm

• soothsayer •

Pronunciation: suth-say-êr • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: Prophet, fortune-teller, someone who predicts future events.

Notes: A soothsayer, as might be expected, is someone who soothsays; that's right, there is a verb underlying today's Good Noun. That which is soothsaid is a soothsaying, a prediction of the future. The noun soothsaw, not much used since 1530 but derived from soothsay, means (meant) "a truth", not a prediction of the future. This use of saw as a noun for say, is still alive in the phrase "an old saw", meaning an old saying. As we will see in the history, sooth is a synonym of truth, and the TH at the end of either word is pronounced identically.

In Play: Today's is a lighthearted word good for making fun of anyone who tries to predict the future: "The Wall Street soothsayers are pulling their hair out in this volatile market" (which explains why so many are bald). Since knowledge of the future is such a valuable commodity, we find soothsayers everywhere we turn: "I followed all the instructions of the child behavior soothsayers and my kid still turned out rotten."

Word History: Now we will, forsooth, explore the remarkable etymology of today's Good Word. The by now archaic word sooth "true, truth" was in Old English soth, a descendant of Old Germanic santh-az "true". This word came from Proto-Indo-European sont- "being", the present participle of the root es- "to be". The truth, then, was what is—simple as that. The verb from the noun was then sothian, which meant "confirm the truth (of something)". Over the years this meaning has slipped to "placate by saying 'yes' to everything" and thence to soothe, as we know it today.
• The Good Dr. Goodword

User avatar
Slava
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 8039
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:31 am
Location: Finger Lakes, NY

Re: Soothsayer

Postby Slava » Sun Mar 08, 2015 3:26 pm

Anyone else out there put the stress on the first syllable? SOOTH-say-er? Or is it just me?
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.

User avatar
Dr. Goodword
Site Admin
Posts: 7417
Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 9:28 am
Location: Lewisburg, PA
Contact:

Re: Soothsayer

Postby Dr. Goodword » Sun Mar 08, 2015 8:41 pm

Yes, I do. I pronounce it right in the sound file; I just got the code mixed up.
• The Good Dr. Goodword

Perry Lassiter
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 3333
Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:41 pm
Location: RUSTON, LA
Contact:

Re: Soothsayer

Postby Perry Lassiter » Mon Mar 09, 2015 10:21 pm

When I saw the word, the tape in my head flashed, "sayest thou soothe?" Anyone else heard or read the expression. As I remember it's synonymous with "are you kidding me? Are you telling me the truth?"
pl


Return to “Good Word Discussion”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Ahrefs [Bot], Google [Bot], Slava and 43 guests