Interesting Old and New Vocab
Vocabulary has been refining from ages. Words which were used in olden days have been modified and changed to accommodate words of new era. One of the most important and visible changes in vocabulary has happened for road signs. They decide the fate of the user; any misinterpretation will be a certain death especially in our ever increasing traffic problems and accidents. This problem gets aggravated when using writing signs than pictures.
For example the phrase GIVE WAY is directly from the era of old coaches and horses. This sign has an undercurrent of gentle submission in olden times when people have to give way for coaches. In modern times no one likes to give way unless and until they are required to by law.
DUAL CARRIAGEWAY is another term imported from Victorian era of horses and carriages. This term when interpreted in modern times depicts dual road, double lane, big road, etc. The underlying aspect of the word (differs according to perception) is fast lane ahead for modern day drivers or ease of congestion or drive with ease.
Another term which is catching interest of drivers and it being a subject of controversy is REDUCE SPEED NOW. This term sounds more or less like a driver school instruction. May be this term should be updated to Slow down now or in hysterical sense start braking now.
Punctuation gets outdated with time and with passage of time English is getting refined. For instance in olden days writers used to use exclamation mark to denote something interesting is going to happen such as Gosh!, many writers have the habit of writing *#@&!. This exclamation remark when translated into modern times aptly applies to the context when something turns up during a round bend in top gear. There are many old English words which are still in use. Another important aspect is that they all have places in the fabulous language English.
Understanding the etymology of the word helps you in deriving the meaning of the word. This concept has always been in controversy because at certain times etymology can lead you astray. Deciphering meaning of the word based on etymology can benefit you if you can decipher the meaning of the word with relevant to context of the sentence. It doesn’t provide you definition. Many at times people can decipher the meaning of the word by knowing its root. If you can decipher the root of the word (origin) it solves half of your work load.
