Sometimes, language can get a little spicy. When it does, we implore you to let us know. This week, we got a question from a listener who recently found his thoughts overwhelmed by spice words.
Carl Gies, a “seasoned” University Musical Society usher, wrote to us about an event he was ushering at Rackham Auditorium. He and the other ushers had been advised to take care opening and closing the noisy new doors to the performance space:
“I thought ‘We’ll close them gingerly.’ Immediately I thought this would be sage advice to share with other ushers. It might even curry favor with my bosses at the venue. What’s up with all the spicy language?”
Carl, your spicy musings certainly curry favor with us. However, like “curry favor,” “sage” and “gingerly” don’t actually have anything to do with spices.
“Sage” is definitely something you can find on a spice rack, but it can also refer to a wise person. In adjective form, it can be used to describe something as “wise,” as in “sage advice.” These two meanings have different roots.
Similarly, the spice “ginger” is different from the “ginger” in “gingerly.” However, it’s not clear exactly where “gingerly” to mean “cautious” or “careful” comes from.
On his website World Wide Words, Michael Quinion notes that “gingerly” may come from the Latin root meaning “well-born.” From there, it turns up in Old French as “gensor,” meaning “pretty” or “delicate.” It eventually made its way into English meaning “to take small, elegant steps while dancing or walking.”
Years ago we talked about “salt” and “salty” on the show, so we decided it made sense to add “pepper” to this week’s discussion. To hear that conversation, listen to the audio above.
