ETYMOLOGIES FOR OUR TIMES REDUX

IT’S FUN—AND ILLUMINATING—TO SEE WHERE WORDS ORIGINATE. Sometimes the answer is trivial. For example, “Pettiness” from the French petit, little; as in “Short-fingered vulgarian’s pettiness.” Other times, it’s rather more complex (see “bully” immediately below). Just as languages evolve, etymologies take curious twists. Here are tidbits along these lines, gleaned from several sources.

Bully. Merriam-Webster defines “bully” as “a blustering, browbeating person, especially one who is habitually cruel, insulting, or threatening to others who are weaker, smaller, or in some way vulnerable.”

However, M-W’s third definition throws an etymological curve: “archaic a: sweetheart b: a fine chap.” It explains further, “The word was probably borrowed from Dutch boel, ‘lover.’ Later bully was used for anyone who seemed a good fellow, then for a blustering daredevil.” 

And Bully Pulpit? A related etymology: Merriam-Webster says, “Bully pulpit comes from the 26th U.S. president, Theodore Roosevelt, who observed that his time in office at the White House was a bully pulpit when he said, ‘I suppose my critics will call that preaching, but I have got such a bully pulpit!’ For Roosevelt, bully was an adjective meaning ‘excellent’ or ‘first-rate’—not today’s familiar noun bully referring to an abusive meanie.”

Theodore Roosevelt Jr., 1858–1919, 26th president of the United States, 1901–1909. Image from 1904 restored by Adam Cuerden and available from the U.S. Library of Congress. 

M-W continues, “Roosevelt understood the modern presidency’s power of persuasion and recognized that it gave the incumbent the opportunity to exhort, instruct, or inspire. He took full advantage of his bully pulpit, speaking out about the danger of monopolies, the nation’s growing role as a world power, and other issues important to him. Since the 1960s, bully pulpit has been used as a term for a public position—especially a political office—that provides one with the opportunity to widely share one’s views.”

In particular, these views don’t have to be shared in insulting, intimidating, or overly UPPER-CASE manner.

To Insult. Merriam-Webster says “to insult” is “to treat with insolence, indignity, or contempt: AFFRONT.” It evolves from Latin insultare, literally, to spring upon, from in- + saltare to leap.

I suspected that “insult” and “insolence” were close in orgin. And, sure enough, M-W notes that the latter is “insultingly contemptuous in speech or conduct: OVERBEARING.”

To Intimidate. Merriam-Webster defines “to intimidate” as “to make timid or fearful: FRIGHTEN, especially to compel or deter by or as if by threats.” 

The English word “intimidate” has been around since 1646. It evolved from Medieval Latin intimidatus, past participle of intimidare, from Latin in- + timidus timid. Timid, “lacking in courage or self-confidence, lacking in boldness or determination,” comes from the Latin timēre,  “to fear.”

Geez. These etymologies are getting me nervous.

Vulgarian. As expected, M-W says a “vulgarian” is a vulgar person, linguistically akin to authoritarian, historian, Rotarian, Shakespearian, and vegetarian (with no ill sentiments directed toward these last four.) M-W says that Middle English “vulgar” comes from Latin vulgaris of the mob, vulgus mob, common people. 

It’s related to the word Vulgate, a late-4th-century Latin version of the Bible for the common folk.

The early 8th-century Codex Amiatinus portrait of Ezra, considered the oldest English painting to which an absolute date can be assigned (i.e., prior to 716).

Wikipedia notes that subsequent editions of the Vulgate remained the standard Bible of the Roman Catholic Church until 1979 when the “new” Nova Vulgata was promulgated.

Here Comes a Triple. Merriam-Webster sums up “vulgar” as “a: lacking in cultivation, perception, or taste: COARSE.  b: morally crude, undeveloped, or unregenerate: GROSS. c: ostentatious or excessive in expenditure or display: PRETENTIOUS.”

Gee, anyone we know? ds 

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2025