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At what point did “gross” come to mean “disgusting”
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The first time I heard "gross" being used to mean "disgusting" was probably around the late eighties, and at the time I felt it was some sort of a corruption of "grotesque"...
I'm wondering if there is a longer history of this usage, or am I right in saying it stems from a more recent misuse.
meaning etymology usage history
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The first time I heard "gross" being used to mean "disgusting" was probably around the late eighties, and at the time I felt it was some sort of a corruption of "grotesque"...
I'm wondering if there is a longer history of this usage, or am I right in saying it stems from a more recent misuse.
meaning etymology usage history
edited 2 hours ago
Laurel
28.3k652102
asked 2 hours ago
Brian eyre
161
New contributor
Brian eyre is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
up vote
3
down vote
favorite
up vote
3
down vote
favorite
The first time I heard "gross" being used to mean "disgusting" was probably around the late eighties, and at the time I felt it was some sort of a corruption of "grotesque"...
I'm wondering if there is a longer history of this usage, or am I right in saying it stems from a more recent misuse.
meaning etymology usage history
edited 2 hours ago
Laurel
28.3k652102
asked 2 hours ago
Brian eyre
161
New contributor
Brian eyre is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
The first time I heard "gross" being used to mean "disgusting" was probably around the late eighties, and at the time I felt it was some sort of a corruption of "grotesque"...
I'm wondering if there is a longer history of this usage, or am I right in saying it stems from a more recent misuse.
meaning etymology usage history
meaning etymology usage history
edited 2 hours ago
Laurel
28.3k652102
asked 2 hours ago
Brian eyre
161
New contributor
Brian eyre is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited 2 hours ago
Laurel
28.3k652102
asked 2 hours ago
Brian eyre
161
New contributor
Brian eyre is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited 2 hours ago
Laurel
28.3k652102
edited 2 hours ago
Laurel
28.3k652102
edited 2 hours ago
Laurel
28.3k652102
28.3k652102
asked 2 hours ago
Brian eyre
161
New contributor
Brian eyre is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 2 hours ago
Brian eyre
161
asked 2 hours ago
Brian eyre
161
161
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Brian eyre is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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New contributor
Brian eyre is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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2 Answers
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3
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"Gross" dates back to at least the 1380s. The OED lists the following quote under the definition "Of conspicuous magnitude; palpable, striking; plain, evident, obvious, easy to apprehend or understand. Obsolete.":
Hoolynesse of lif techiþ rude men by groos ensaumple.
Wyclif's English works, c1380
The word came from the French word gros(se) meaning "big, thick, coarse" and ultimately dates back to the lat Latin word grossus meaning "thick". Several of the other early quotes use it to mean "big". It's also the same word as "gross" meaning 144 and in "gross domestic product".
The 1989 OED page for "gross" is available for free here with more information on the older history.
The sense you're referring to ("disgusting") isn't in the above 1989 version, but it's in the OED3 (behind a paywall). The earliest quote with this meaning is from 1959:
Terms expressing approval or disapproval are intelligible to the initiated only, for their real meaning is often dependent upon intonation. Great, the greatest, gross,..and tremendous are either complimentary or derogatory, depending upon how they are said.
American Speech
It's likely that it's related to the older sense of the word meaning "[r]ude, uninstructed, ignorant" or "[e]xtremely coarse in behaviour or morals; brutally lacking in refinement or decency".
answered 2 hours ago
Laurel
28.3k652102
add a comment |
up vote
0
down vote
As explained in the following extract, the meaning of disgusting was not a big semantic jump from the original meaning and usage of gross. This meaning appears to have become popular as a slang term among teenagers in the ‘60s/‘70s:
The word gross has been in English for hundreds of years. We got it from French, where it means "big" or "fat." It took on a variety of senses in English related to size, including "coarse" (gross grains as opposed to fine), "strikingly obvious" (grosse as a mountaine), and "whole" (gross as opposed to net value). It also picked up negative senses like "vulgar," "crude" (Grose folke of rude affection Dronkerdes. Lubbers, knaues), or "ignorant" (a grosse unlettered people).
From there it’s not a big jump to the current sense of disgusting. There’s always been something repulsive, or at least unsavory, in the word gross.
Still, “Ew! That is so gross!” has a very modern ring to it. It feels like a very different word from the one they were using 200 years ago. In contrast, a word like disgusting feels essentially the same. So what happened to gross? What separates the gross of today from the gross of the past?
Gross did not undergo a big change in meaning, but it did undergo a big change in context. In the late 20th century, young people started to use it a lot—like, a lot a lot. So much so that old people noticed it, and didn’t like it. As one critic said in a 1971 issue of The Saturday Review, “Gross has always meant something coarse and vulgar. But as used by the teens, it runs the gamut of awfulness from homework to something the cat contributed to ecology.” Gross became slang.
answered 16 mins ago
user240918
21.7k859136
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2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
3
down vote
"Gross" dates back to at least the 1380s. The OED lists the following quote under the definition "Of conspicuous magnitude; palpable, striking; plain, evident, obvious, easy to apprehend or understand. Obsolete.":
Hoolynesse of lif techiþ rude men by groos ensaumple.
Wyclif's English works, c1380
The word came from the French word gros(se) meaning "big, thick, coarse" and ultimately dates back to the lat Latin word grossus meaning "thick". Several of the other early quotes use it to mean "big". It's also the same word as "gross" meaning 144 and in "gross domestic product".
The 1989 OED page for "gross" is available for free here with more information on the older history.
The sense you're referring to ("disgusting") isn't in the above 1989 version, but it's in the OED3 (behind a paywall). The earliest quote with this meaning is from 1959:
Terms expressing approval or disapproval are intelligible to the initiated only, for their real meaning is often dependent upon intonation. Great, the greatest, gross,..and tremendous are either complimentary or derogatory, depending upon how they are said.
American Speech
It's likely that it's related to the older sense of the word meaning "[r]ude, uninstructed, ignorant" or "[e]xtremely coarse in behaviour or morals; brutally lacking in refinement or decency".
answered 2 hours ago
Laurel
28.3k652102
add a comment |
up vote
3
down vote
"Gross" dates back to at least the 1380s. The OED lists the following quote under the definition "Of conspicuous magnitude; palpable, striking; plain, evident, obvious, easy to apprehend or understand. Obsolete.":
Hoolynesse of lif techiþ rude men by groos ensaumple.
Wyclif's English works, c1380
The word came from the French word gros(se) meaning "big, thick, coarse" and ultimately dates back to the lat Latin word grossus meaning "thick". Several of the other early quotes use it to mean "big". It's also the same word as "gross" meaning 144 and in "gross domestic product".
The 1989 OED page for "gross" is available for free here with more information on the older history.
The sense you're referring to ("disgusting") isn't in the above 1989 version, but it's in the OED3 (behind a paywall). The earliest quote with this meaning is from 1959:
Terms expressing approval or disapproval are intelligible to the initiated only, for their real meaning is often dependent upon intonation. Great, the greatest, gross,..and tremendous are either complimentary or derogatory, depending upon how they are said.
American Speech
It's likely that it's related to the older sense of the word meaning "[r]ude, uninstructed, ignorant" or "[e]xtremely coarse in behaviour or morals; brutally lacking in refinement or decency".
answered 2 hours ago
Laurel
28.3k652102
add a comment |
up vote
3
down vote
up vote
3
down vote
"Gross" dates back to at least the 1380s. The OED lists the following quote under the definition "Of conspicuous magnitude; palpable, striking; plain, evident, obvious, easy to apprehend or understand. Obsolete.":
Hoolynesse of lif techiþ rude men by groos ensaumple.
Wyclif's English works, c1380
The word came from the French word gros(se) meaning "big, thick, coarse" and ultimately dates back to the lat Latin word grossus meaning "thick". Several of the other early quotes use it to mean "big". It's also the same word as "gross" meaning 144 and in "gross domestic product".
The 1989 OED page for "gross" is available for free here with more information on the older history.
The sense you're referring to ("disgusting") isn't in the above 1989 version, but it's in the OED3 (behind a paywall). The earliest quote with this meaning is from 1959:
Terms expressing approval or disapproval are intelligible to the initiated only, for their real meaning is often dependent upon intonation. Great, the greatest, gross,..and tremendous are either complimentary or derogatory, depending upon how they are said.
American Speech
It's likely that it's related to the older sense of the word meaning "[r]ude, uninstructed, ignorant" or "[e]xtremely coarse in behaviour or morals; brutally lacking in refinement or decency".
answered 2 hours ago
Laurel
28.3k652102
"Gross" dates back to at least the 1380s. The OED lists the following quote under the definition "Of conspicuous magnitude; palpable, striking; plain, evident, obvious, easy to apprehend or understand. Obsolete.":
Hoolynesse of lif techiþ rude men by groos ensaumple.
Wyclif's English works, c1380
The word came from the French word gros(se) meaning "big, thick, coarse" and ultimately dates back to the lat Latin word grossus meaning "thick". Several of the other early quotes use it to mean "big". It's also the same word as "gross" meaning 144 and in "gross domestic product".
The 1989 OED page for "gross" is available for free here with more information on the older history.
The sense you're referring to ("disgusting") isn't in the above 1989 version, but it's in the OED3 (behind a paywall). The earliest quote with this meaning is from 1959:
Terms expressing approval or disapproval are intelligible to the initiated only, for their real meaning is often dependent upon intonation. Great, the greatest, gross,..and tremendous are either complimentary or derogatory, depending upon how they are said.
American Speech
It's likely that it's related to the older sense of the word meaning "[r]ude, uninstructed, ignorant" or "[e]xtremely coarse in behaviour or morals; brutally lacking in refinement or decency".
answered 2 hours ago
Laurel
28.3k652102
answered 2 hours ago
Laurel
28.3k652102
answered 2 hours ago
Laurel
28.3k652102
answered 2 hours ago
Laurel
28.3k652102
28.3k652102
add a comment |
add a comment |
up vote
0
down vote
As explained in the following extract, the meaning of disgusting was not a big semantic jump from the original meaning and usage of gross. This meaning appears to have become popular as a slang term among teenagers in the ‘60s/‘70s:
The word gross has been in English for hundreds of years. We got it from French, where it means "big" or "fat." It took on a variety of senses in English related to size, including "coarse" (gross grains as opposed to fine), "strikingly obvious" (grosse as a mountaine), and "whole" (gross as opposed to net value). It also picked up negative senses like "vulgar," "crude" (Grose folke of rude affection Dronkerdes. Lubbers, knaues), or "ignorant" (a grosse unlettered people).
From there it’s not a big jump to the current sense of disgusting. There’s always been something repulsive, or at least unsavory, in the word gross.
Still, “Ew! That is so gross!” has a very modern ring to it. It feels like a very different word from the one they were using 200 years ago. In contrast, a word like disgusting feels essentially the same. So what happened to gross? What separates the gross of today from the gross of the past?
Gross did not undergo a big change in meaning, but it did undergo a big change in context. In the late 20th century, young people started to use it a lot—like, a lot a lot. So much so that old people noticed it, and didn’t like it. As one critic said in a 1971 issue of The Saturday Review, “Gross has always meant something coarse and vulgar. But as used by the teens, it runs the gamut of awfulness from homework to something the cat contributed to ecology.” Gross became slang.
answered 16 mins ago
user240918
21.7k859136
add a comment |
up vote
0
down vote
As explained in the following extract, the meaning of disgusting was not a big semantic jump from the original meaning and usage of gross. This meaning appears to have become popular as a slang term among teenagers in the ‘60s/‘70s:
The word gross has been in English for hundreds of years. We got it from French, where it means "big" or "fat." It took on a variety of senses in English related to size, including "coarse" (gross grains as opposed to fine), "strikingly obvious" (grosse as a mountaine), and "whole" (gross as opposed to net value). It also picked up negative senses like "vulgar," "crude" (Grose folke of rude affection Dronkerdes. Lubbers, knaues), or "ignorant" (a grosse unlettered people).
From there it’s not a big jump to the current sense of disgusting. There’s always been something repulsive, or at least unsavory, in the word gross.
Still, “Ew! That is so gross!” has a very modern ring to it. It feels like a very different word from the one they were using 200 years ago. In contrast, a word like disgusting feels essentially the same. So what happened to gross? What separates the gross of today from the gross of the past?
Gross did not undergo a big change in meaning, but it did undergo a big change in context. In the late 20th century, young people started to use it a lot—like, a lot a lot. So much so that old people noticed it, and didn’t like it. As one critic said in a 1971 issue of The Saturday Review, “Gross has always meant something coarse and vulgar. But as used by the teens, it runs the gamut of awfulness from homework to something the cat contributed to ecology.” Gross became slang.
answered 16 mins ago
user240918
21.7k859136
add a comment |
up vote
0
down vote
up vote
0
down vote
As explained in the following extract, the meaning of disgusting was not a big semantic jump from the original meaning and usage of gross. This meaning appears to have become popular as a slang term among teenagers in the ‘60s/‘70s:
The word gross has been in English for hundreds of years. We got it from French, where it means "big" or "fat." It took on a variety of senses in English related to size, including "coarse" (gross grains as opposed to fine), "strikingly obvious" (grosse as a mountaine), and "whole" (gross as opposed to net value). It also picked up negative senses like "vulgar," "crude" (Grose folke of rude affection Dronkerdes. Lubbers, knaues), or "ignorant" (a grosse unlettered people).
From there it’s not a big jump to the current sense of disgusting. There’s always been something repulsive, or at least unsavory, in the word gross.
Still, “Ew! That is so gross!” has a very modern ring to it. It feels like a very different word from the one they were using 200 years ago. In contrast, a word like disgusting feels essentially the same. So what happened to gross? What separates the gross of today from the gross of the past?
Gross did not undergo a big change in meaning, but it did undergo a big change in context. In the late 20th century, young people started to use it a lot—like, a lot a lot. So much so that old people noticed it, and didn’t like it. As one critic said in a 1971 issue of The Saturday Review, “Gross has always meant something coarse and vulgar. But as used by the teens, it runs the gamut of awfulness from homework to something the cat contributed to ecology.” Gross became slang.
answered 16 mins ago
user240918
21.7k859136
As explained in the following extract, the meaning of disgusting was not a big semantic jump from the original meaning and usage of gross. This meaning appears to have become popular as a slang term among teenagers in the ‘60s/‘70s:
The word gross has been in English for hundreds of years. We got it from French, where it means "big" or "fat." It took on a variety of senses in English related to size, including "coarse" (gross grains as opposed to fine), "strikingly obvious" (grosse as a mountaine), and "whole" (gross as opposed to net value). It also picked up negative senses like "vulgar," "crude" (Grose folke of rude affection Dronkerdes. Lubbers, knaues), or "ignorant" (a grosse unlettered people).
From there it’s not a big jump to the current sense of disgusting. There’s always been something repulsive, or at least unsavory, in the word gross.
Still, “Ew! That is so gross!” has a very modern ring to it. It feels like a very different word from the one they were using 200 years ago. In contrast, a word like disgusting feels essentially the same. So what happened to gross? What separates the gross of today from the gross of the past?
Gross did not undergo a big change in meaning, but it did undergo a big change in context. In the late 20th century, young people started to use it a lot—like, a lot a lot. So much so that old people noticed it, and didn’t like it. As one critic said in a 1971 issue of The Saturday Review, “Gross has always meant something coarse and vulgar. But as used by the teens, it runs the gamut of awfulness from homework to something the cat contributed to ecology.” Gross became slang.
answered 16 mins ago
user240918
21.7k859136
answered 16 mins ago
user240918
21.7k859136
answered 16 mins ago
user240918
21.7k859136
answered 16 mins ago
user240918
21.7k859136
21.7k859136
add a comment |
add a comment |
Brian eyre is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
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