• ornery •
Printable Version Pronunciation: or-nêr-ee • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Contrary, cantankerous, mean, disagreeable.
Notes: Today's word sound awfully American but, in fact, it has been around since the 17th century (see Word History). That is long enough for it to have picked up a noun, orneriness, but not an adverb. Despite its longevity, it is still considered slang, so save it for humorous occasions.
In Play: We have all heard this word; it isn't unusual except for its origin: "Don't even ask Bob Wire; he is in one of his ornery moods and wouldn't give you air in a jug right now." It is an ordinary word, something you are likely to hear around the house all the time: "Now, don't be ornery; mow the lawn before the game starts; otherwise, you know it won't be done."
Word History: Words are like kids in that they can get in trouble easily and today's Good if a bit naughty Word is a perfect example. It started out as the ordinary word, ordinary, but then, by repeated mispronunciation, turned sour in both sound and meaning. Ordinary came via French from Latin ordinarius "in order, usual, regular", an adjective based on ordo, ordin- "order". The same deep root, Proto-Indo-European *ar- "fit together, join", also underlies arm from Latin armus "upper arm". In Greek it emerged in harmos "joint, shoulder", the basis of harmonia "fitting together, harmony", which we borrowed as harmony. What a long journey to end up with so mean a meaning.
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