The Evolution of Words

Our conversation in Thursday’s class made me think not only about the evolution of stories and science, but also about the evolution of words. Professor Dalke asked our class whether or not the Great Chain of Being was foundational or not, and then asked the same about Darwin’s (or as we eventually called it, Grobstein’s tree). Because I misunderstood the way we were defining ‘foundational,’ I tried to build a claim about how Grobstein’s tree was in fact ‘foundational,’ because it was founded on scientific stories, just as the Great Chain of Being was founded on people’s faith in God. It was eventually explained that our functional definition of ‘foundational’ needed to be both ‘static’ and ‘purposeful’, and that my reasons for legitimatizing my point were incorrect based on a misunderstanding of the word itself.

This misunderstanding led me to ponder the ways in which words have varying meanings and connotations for different people and furthermore, the ways in which words evolve in meaning over time. While “gay” once meant ‘merry’ or ‘carefree,’ it now refers (as either an adjective or noun) to different components of homosexuality. Just as we believe that things evolve to better fit their environments, so do words. it seems that as society, politics, and taboos shift, so do the words used to describe events.