Measly

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Dr. Goodword
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Measly

Postby Dr. Goodword » Thu Jun 03, 2021 6:43 pm

• measly •


Pronunciation: meez-li • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Adjective

Meaning: 1. Paltry, meager, pathetically tiny, very scanty. 2. Worthless, wretched, miserable, very inferior. 3. Infected with measles.

Notes: Here is an erstwhile common word I heard recently and realized I hadn't heard it for a long time. I don't know if this results from infrequency of use, or because of my age-related memory loss. It has a Germanic comparison and superlative, measlier and measliest, and a noun, measliness. Don't forget to change the Y to I when spelling these.

In Play: The original sense (3. above) is rarely used today outside the field of medicine. It is used most commonly in the first sense above: "Henry drove 600 miles for a measly two hour conversation with Hermione." It is less often used in the second sense: "The measly twerp then shamelessly asked her out to dinner."

Word History: Today's Good Word began its life as an adjective derived from measles, like lousy, which started out meaning "having lice". It was originally used metaphorically to refer to pork that had been infected by porcine measles. There would seem to be no trace of this word in Old English, so it is presumed to have been borrowed from Middle Dutch mazalen "measles". This word seems to have come from the same Germanic base as obsolete mase "spot, freckle". Some scholars have traced it back to a PIE word meaning "rub, anoint" that produced Russian mazat', Serbian mazati, Polish mazać, and Czech mazat "smear". At this point, though, the waters are too muddy to pursue even this kind of speculation.
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David Myer
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Re: Measly

Postby David Myer » Fri Jun 04, 2021 8:15 am

There seems to be a fair amount of speculation in this etymology so I feel relaxed enough to offer an alternative hypothesis with absolutely no scholarly evidence. Here we go:

No connection between measles and measly in the sense of the first meaning.

Measly might be a corruption of miserly which is what it means more or less exactly.

Why should someone with a spotty illness be mean or stingy?

Philip Hudson
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Re: Measly

Postby Philip Hudson » Mon Jun 14, 2021 12:48 am

David, I admire your spunky response to the Good Doctor's offering of measly. I would say you had chutzpa but I don't use Yiddish words. Should the fray come to blows, count me out. I sign off with due respect to the Good Doctor and to you.
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.

David Myer
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Re: Measly

Postby David Myer » Mon Jun 14, 2021 6:51 am

Thanks Philip. I give thanks that it is possible to respect someone with whom you disagree. Certainly, I respect the Good Doctor. And i am not actually disagreeing - just hypothesising that maybe there is an additional explanation. But don't worry, I will certainly vote for you if you stand for election on anything.


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