Etymology and Analysis of the Word Burn

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Words have so many different meanings. Just pick up a dictionary to discover the many different meanings of the same word. Have you ever wondered where the meaning of the word originated? Maybe you have asked what a word means when another has used it out of context. How did one word come to mean so many different things? This paper will allow me to explore the definition of burn and where it originated. I will also discover how it has changed over the years and what the definition is today. Slang is the key reason words take on new meaning. A teenage girl may say a guy is hot! This does not mean he is sweating, it means he is good looking. This is an example of slang. People familiar with slang will understand this meaning, while those unfamiliar will not. As our culture changes so does our slang and words take on new meanings. Let’s take a closer look at the word burn. Some of the definitions may surprise you. In nineteen eighty-five the word burn took on a new meaning. According to Charles R. Grosvenor Jr: Burn is synonymous with “face”. “Burn” was used to apply dramatic emphasis to the fact someone was proven wrong on an issue that had been hotly debated and contested. It was also used for annoying and harassing effects over trivial matters of the day to the point where it lost all meaning. Usually preceded by “you got” as in you got burned or by “ooooooh” as in ooooooh, burrrrrrn! Many people used burn at this time as a slam. It was the way of telling someone they were wrong, or when in an argument, someone else had a good response to overrule the other. This would cause the bystander to say burn. People would also say burn if they were playing baseball and the outfielder could not catch the fly... ... middle of paper ... ... have arisen. This paper has taught me a tremendous amount about the word burn. I found it really fascinating to study the definitions. I discovered new meanings from eight hundred which still apply today, for example, a stream. It fascinates me how words never truly change their meaning but do evolve from the slang we use. Works Cited Grosvenor Jr., Charles R. “In the 80s.” Glossary of Eighties Terms. In the 80s, 1995-2012. Web. 16 Jan. 2014. http://www.inthe80s.com/glossary.shtml “Oxford English Dictionary.” The Definitive record of the English language. Oxford University Press, 2014. Web. 16 Jan. 2014. http://www.centralmethodist.edu:2131/ Rader, Walter. “The Online Slang Dictionary.” American, English, and Urban slang. The Online Slang Dictionary, 1996-2014. Web. 16 Jan. 2014. http://onlineslangdictionary.com/meaning-definition-of/burn

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