Sincere Etymological Question, British

[TarnishedPenny]

'Gormless' means slow or stupid, I get that.

'-less' is a suffix indicating 'lacking'.

What in heck is a 'gorm'?

 

[Kelliezgirl]

It's like a dikfer. Close cousin of the henway.

 

[WCSGarland]

Blue
Gorm is an Irish (Gaelic) word meaning "blue". Ignorance is bliss => Ignorance means not having the blues. => Ignorance = Gormless. QED.

 

[StillStunned]

From https://www.etymonline.com/word/gormless:

gormless (adj.)​

c. 1746, also in early use gaumless, gawmless, "wanting sense, stupid," a British dialectal word, from gome "notice, understanding" (c. 1200), from Old Norse gaumr "care, heed" (of unknown origin); + -less.

I've come across people using "gorm" a few times (as in "you need a bit more gorm"), but I suspect they were just trying to be clever.

 

[TheRedChamber]

And while we're on the subject, why do you never hear of gruntled employees?

 

[NotWise]

According to google it comes from "gaumr" which is old Norse for "sense."

 

[StillStunned]

And while we're on the subject, why do you never hear of gruntled employees?

Instead of doing Employee Satisfaction Surveys, they should call them Employee Gruntlement Surveys.

 

[Nynah]

While we're at it, can we figure out what it means to be whelmed? How about when somehing is nocuous or vincible? Or when something is a nomer or is plussed?



(The answer is English is a bastard language. Gormless, if you will.)

 

[StillStunned]

While we're at it, can we figure out what it means to be whelmed?

You have to be in Europe to experience it.

 

[HordHolm]

And you don't come across ruthful people, either. Only ruthless ones.

 

[stickygirl]

And you don't come across ruthful people, either. Only ruthless ones.

Erm, actually... ruthful is a word meaning compassionate
Though perhaps you mean there aren't many empathetic people around?

 

[Kasumi_Lee]

While we're at it, can we figure out what it means to be whelmed? How about when somehing is nocuous or vincible? Or when something is a nomer or is plussed?



(The answer is English is a bastard language. Gormless, if you will.)

Vincible is easy. It means "conquerable", and therefore can refer to the susceptibility of a problem or challenge to being overcome. Obviously, it's not very commonly used, but that's the correct way to use the word if one is so inclined.

 

[UsuallyPresent]

While we're at it, can we figure out what it means to be whelmed? How about when somehing is nocuous or vincible? Or when something is a nomer or is plussed?



(The answer is English is a bastard language. Gormless, if you will.)

Whelming is gathering - "The rioters whelmed in the jewelry district before the alarms started howling", or "The waves whelmed, the tide advancing mercilessly across the shore"

Nocuous is synonymous with noxious. Poisonous, dangerous, nasty.

Nomer comes from 'to name', so misnomers are mis-named.

Plussed is increased, 'plussing up'. unplussed ain't.

And English is a language that historically beats up other languages and steals the bits that look shiniest for its own.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

 

[Plathfan]

Adding "sincere" to a title carries a dubious implication. Isn't sincerity your default?

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

'Gormless' means slow or stupid, I get that.

'-less' is a suffix indicating 'lacking'.

What in heck is a 'gorm'?

I’ve also heard it used as a noun or verb. In a previous life, I was frequently in contact with some fairly well known musical performers. The crew called those obnoxious fans that went all fanboy as gorms, and the excessive, often inappropriate, attention they offered as gorming.

 

[TheLobster]

It really wasn’t reckful of OP to start a thread that is so ripe for oneupmanship.

 

[stickygirl]

It really wasn’t reckful of OP to start a thread that is so ripe for oneupmanship.

oneupwomanship

 

[Tio_Narratore]

There was a whole short story in the New Yorkers humor column many years ago bt a man who was completely plussed and chalant when he met the woman he'd later marry. I have a copy somewhere, but I will try to track it down to add here; it was rather clever.

 

[TheLobster]

oneupwomanship

Amen (and awomen).

 

[stickygirl]

There was a whole short story in the New Yorkers humor column many years ago bt a man who was completely plussed and chalant when he met the woman he'd later marry. I have a copy somewhere, but I will try to track it down to add here; it was rather clever.

Chalant from the latin, refers to heated

 

[alohadave]

And while we're on the subject, why do you never hear of gruntled employees?

Gruntle was a word at one point.

However, in this case, the prefix dis- isn't negating -gruntle, it's intensifying it. Gruntle meant to complain, and disgruntled was a more intense form.

Eventually gruntle left common usage and later people assumed that the meaning of gruntled was opposite of disgruntled.

 

[HordHolm]

One thing I will say - this thread is making me feel rather uphearted.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Nocuous is synonymous with noxious. Poisonous, dangerous, nasty.

Related: "innocent", "nuisance", and "nociceptors" (pain receptors), all from Latin nocere (harm).

 

[TheLobster]

One thing I will say - this thread is making me feel rather uphearted.

Agreed. Despite my initial skepticism, I must say I would now offer nothing but paraging remarks about it.