Newfangled

Use this forum to discuss past Good Words.
User avatar
Slava
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 8040
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:31 am
Location: Finger Lakes, NY

Newfangled

Postby Slava » Tue Feb 07, 2012 3:55 pm

An old word that never made it to the Agora, way back in January:

• newfangled •

Pronunciation: nyu-fæng-gêld • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Adjective

Meaning: (Facetious) Novel, modern, the latest, up to date, in the latest fashion.

Notes: Today's Good Word and its antonym of oldfangled "old-fashioned" are playful words, as we can see in the variants newfandangled and newphangled. They all somehow have a tint of the oldfangled about them. We are free to use it with or without the suffix -d. Newfangle works just as well, though it is a bit older than even newfangled.

In Play: Use this word to express skepticism that something is a new item that will not survive serious thought: "Morris Bedda had to bring out his newfangled electric fork at the party this weekend." This Good Word can be used to disparage someone who is up to date on everything: "Morris is so high-falutin' he has to have every newfangled gadget that comes out."

Word History: No, this word never meant "newly fangled". It is, however, a rarity in English: a genuine English word rather than a borrowing. It started out in Middle English as neufanglyd "fond of novelty", a past participle of neufangel. This word is a compound made up of neu "new" + fangel "take, catch", a distant cousin of German fangen "to catch". This verb goes back to an obsolete word, fang "to catch (a fish)" used as recently as 1877. The original sense seems to be "newly caught" or "newly seized". (Today we thank Joyce B. Rhode for suggesting the oldfangled Good Word, newfangled.)

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

Re: NEWFANGLED

Postby Perry Lassiter » Thu Jul 24, 2014 2:52 pm

I've often heard the word used from a 'Luddite' position, indicating a lack of understanding about what to do with something or how to operate it. "I don't understand all the ruckus about all these newfangled electronic gadgets." No implication they will not last.
pl

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

Re: Newfangled

Postby Dr. Goodword » Fri Jul 25, 2014 8:17 am

I agree. Humorous words often are used to deflect attention away from ignorance.
• The Good Dr. Goodword


Return to “Good Word Discussion”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Ahrefs [Bot], Semrush [Bot] and 48 guests