At That's What They Say, we consider ourselves "wordies." As wordies, we need to be comfortable with the idea that our language is constantly changing, and that new words and phrases pop up all the time.
Our listener and fellow wordie Keisha Nelson recently wrote to us about a word that challenged her language "comfortability."
"While watching TV, I heard the announcer use the word 'comfortability' and it made me cringe. While I don't think this is actually a word, my inner wordie (thank you, Anne!) is wondering if there is something to this construction," Nelson said.
Nelson is a true wordie. Hearing "comfortability" may have made her uncomfortable, but her inner wordie was curious and wanted to know more.
Let's back up to "comfortable." This is a French borrowing, that had showed up by the 1400s to refer to something that's "supporting" or "reassuring" or "consoling." That meaning is now obsolete.
By the 1700s, "comfortable" had taken on the more familiar meaning of "something that affords tranquil enjoyment or contentment." For example, you could have a comfortable house, a comfortable bed, or comfortable clothes. You can also be comfortable yourself, as in "free from pain and trouble," or "free from stress or tension or doubt."
To better understand "comfortability," Professor Anne Curzan reached out to her colleague Christopher Palmer at Kennesaw State University, who has studied the rise of various suffixes. Palmer notes that over the last few hundred years we've seen the rise of "ity" gaining ground on "ness." For example, the noun "productiveness" is more common from 1800 to 1910, but is later overtaken by "productivity."
"I think we're seeing some of the same thing with comfortability overtaking uncomfortableness, which it looks like it has done," said Curzan.
For more on "comfortableness," listen to the audio above.
