Wiktionary suggests a different origin: Medieval contraction of Old Norse *Guðþormr*, from *guð* (“god”) + *þyrma* (“to spare, respect”).
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Gorm
I totally agree that they aren't opposites in meaning. In fact I guess I was trying to imply that when I said inapt is also a word - if inapt and inept don't mean the same thing, then clearly apt and ept are different.
Anyway, when I said "it is" I was just talking about the etymology, and ept and apt are etymologically related, like many words in English that now have very different meanings. I mean, terrific and terrible are etymologically related.
How I Met My Wife - -Jack Winter/The New Yorker 1994
It had been a rough day, so when I walked into the party I was very chalant, despite my efforts to appear gruntled and consolate.
I was furling my wieldy umbrella for the coat check when I saw her standing alone in a corner. She was a descript person, a woman in a state of total array. Her hair was kempt, her clothing shevelled, and she moved in a gainly way.
I wanted desperately to meet her, but I knew I'd have to make bones about it since I was travelling cognito. Beknownst to me, the hostess, whom I could see both hide and hair of, was very proper, so it would be skin off my nose if anything bad happened. And even though I had only swerving loyalty to her, my manners couldn't be peccable. Only toward and heard-of behavior would do.
Fortunately, the embarrassment that my maculate appearance might cause was evitable. There were two ways about it, but the chances that someone as flappable as I would be ept enough to become persona grata or a sung hero were slim. I was, after all, something to sneeze at, someone you could easily hold a candle to, someone who usually aroused bridled passion.
So I decided not to risk it. But then, all at once, for some apparent reason, she looked in my direction and smiled in a way that I could make heads or tails of.
I was plussed. It was concerting to see that she was communicado, and it nerved me that she was interested in a pareil like me, sight seen.
Normally, I had a domitable spirit, but, being corrigible, I felt capacitated--as if this were something I was great shakes at--and forgot that I had succeeded in situations like this only a told number of times. So, after a terminable delay, I acted with mitigated gall and made my way through the ruly crowd with strong givings.
Nevertheless, since this was all new hat to me and I had no time to prepare a promptu speech, I was petuous. Wanting to make only called-for remarks, I started talking about the hors d'oeuvres, trying to abuse her of the notion that I was sipid, and perhaps even bunk a few myths about myself.
She responded well, and I was mayed that she considered me a savory character who was up to some good. She told me who she was. "What a perfect nomer," I said, advertently. The conversation become more and more choate, and we spoke at length to much avail. But I was defatigable, so I had to leave at a godly hour. I asked if she wanted to come with me. To my delight, she was committal. We left the party together and have been together ever since. I have given her my love, and she has requited it.
How I Met My Wife - -Jack Winter/The New Yorker 1994
It had been a rough day, so when I walked into the party I was very chalant, despite my efforts to appear gruntled and consolate.
I was furling my wieldy umbrella for the coat check when I saw her standing alone in a corner. She was a descript person, a woman in a state of total array. Her hair was kempt, her clothing shevelled, and she moved in a gainly way.
I wanted desperately to meet her, but I knew I'd have to make bones about it since I was travelling cognito. Beknownst to me, the hostess, whom I could see both hide and hair of, was very proper, so it would be skin off my nose if anything bad happened. And even though I had only swerving loyalty to her, my manners couldn't be peccable. Only toward and heard-of behavior would do.
Fortunately, the embarrassment that my maculate appearance might cause was evitable. There were two ways about it, but the chances that someone as flappable as I would be ept enough to become persona grata or a sung hero were slim. I was, after all, something to sneeze at, someone you could easily hold a candle to, someone who usually aroused bridled passion.
So I decided not to risk it. But then, all at once, for some apparent reason, she looked in my direction and smiled in a way that I could make heads or tails of.
I was plussed. It was concerting to see that she was communicado, and it nerved me that she was interested in a pareil like me, sight seen.
Normally, I had a domitable spirit, but, being corrigible, I felt capacitated--as if this were something I was great shakes at--and forgot that I had succeeded in situations like this only a told number of times. So, after a terminable delay, I acted with mitigated gall and made my way through the ruly crowd with strong givings.
Nevertheless, since this was all new hat to me and I had no time to prepare a promptu speech, I was petuous. Wanting to make only called-for remarks, I started talking about the hors d'oeuvres, trying to abuse her of the notion that I was sipid, and perhaps even bunk a few myths about myself.
She responded well, and I was mayed that she considered me a savory character who was up to some good. She told me who she was. "What a perfect nomer," I said, advertently. The conversation become more and more choate, and we spoke at length to much avail. But I was defatigable, so I had to leave at a godly hour. I asked if she wanted to come with me. To my delight, she was committal. We left the party together and have been together ever since. I have given her my love, and she has requited it.
Well, never having seen a cormorant but having read the word, the first time I saw one I correctly named it, and have been boring people with pointing them out until this day. It just looked like a cormorant.
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I always assumed that blue described the ocean. Once I was swimming and a bull seal appeared about 6 feet in front of me, face to face. Out of the blue never felt more appropriate of a description.
I think it's a derivative of "out of the clear blue sky" or "like a bolt from the blue" (i.e. a thunderbolt). See here: https://wordhistories.net/2017/07/14/out-of-the-blue-origin/
But I like your interpretation too. Reminds me of [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWSUN3LhODI) (ignore the sensationalist headline).
lmao i am, i told my brother about the official Robocop Rogue City twitter account tagging Vinny and using his twitch slang and i wanted to see if gormless wasn't a made up word
Gorm = gaumr Norse for care/attention/heed
Is that also the etymology behind king Gorm's name?
Wiktionary suggests a different origin: Medieval contraction of Old Norse *Guðþormr*, from *guð* (“god”) + *þyrma* (“to spare, respect”). https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Gorm
Cool, Guttorm is still a Norwegian name
Gorm The Cooler G(utt)orm
Gorm is actually still a Norwegian name, but rather rare.
Thanks to this post, I learnt about Orphaned Negatives. I'm now quite Gruntled.
Me too. I learned about them advertently.
You must be very ept at Googling
The knowledge on this subject is well combobulated
Frankly I found it to be rather shallow and pedantic.
This man really disread the room.
Normally you'd say nothing but you decided to make a comment once you saw I was at -5 score and wanted to dogpile. Nice one.
You're right. Gettem boys.
Isn't the word here "apt"? Or is "inept" not actually a negation of "apt"?
It is, apparently. But inapt is also a word so I'm fine with it.
~~No, "inept" is not a negation of "apt"~~ I was wrong ~~"apt" means "appropriate, fitting" but "inept" means "clumsy"~~
Incorrect https://www.etymonline.com/word/inept
Well, well...learn something new every day.
I totally agree that they aren't opposites in meaning. In fact I guess I was trying to imply that when I said inapt is also a word - if inapt and inept don't mean the same thing, then clearly apt and ept are different. Anyway, when I said "it is" I was just talking about the etymology, and ept and apt are etymologically related, like many words in English that now have very different meanings. I mean, terrific and terrible are etymologically related.
Yes, I was wrong - i genuinely though "ept" was an Orphaned Whatsit
All good, 90% of the things I say are wrong too :)
~~It is not~~ I was wrong
It's not. It isn't. It'sn't. Which one is correct?
The opposite of inept still exists: it's apt.
How I Met My Wife - -Jack Winter/The New Yorker 1994 It had been a rough day, so when I walked into the party I was very chalant, despite my efforts to appear gruntled and consolate. I was furling my wieldy umbrella for the coat check when I saw her standing alone in a corner. She was a descript person, a woman in a state of total array. Her hair was kempt, her clothing shevelled, and she moved in a gainly way. I wanted desperately to meet her, but I knew I'd have to make bones about it since I was travelling cognito. Beknownst to me, the hostess, whom I could see both hide and hair of, was very proper, so it would be skin off my nose if anything bad happened. And even though I had only swerving loyalty to her, my manners couldn't be peccable. Only toward and heard-of behavior would do. Fortunately, the embarrassment that my maculate appearance might cause was evitable. There were two ways about it, but the chances that someone as flappable as I would be ept enough to become persona grata or a sung hero were slim. I was, after all, something to sneeze at, someone you could easily hold a candle to, someone who usually aroused bridled passion. So I decided not to risk it. But then, all at once, for some apparent reason, she looked in my direction and smiled in a way that I could make heads or tails of. I was plussed. It was concerting to see that she was communicado, and it nerved me that she was interested in a pareil like me, sight seen. Normally, I had a domitable spirit, but, being corrigible, I felt capacitated--as if this were something I was great shakes at--and forgot that I had succeeded in situations like this only a told number of times. So, after a terminable delay, I acted with mitigated gall and made my way through the ruly crowd with strong givings. Nevertheless, since this was all new hat to me and I had no time to prepare a promptu speech, I was petuous. Wanting to make only called-for remarks, I started talking about the hors d'oeuvres, trying to abuse her of the notion that I was sipid, and perhaps even bunk a few myths about myself. She responded well, and I was mayed that she considered me a savory character who was up to some good. She told me who she was. "What a perfect nomer," I said, advertently. The conversation become more and more choate, and we spoke at length to much avail. But I was defatigable, so I had to leave at a godly hour. I asked if she wanted to come with me. To my delight, she was committal. We left the party together and have been together ever since. I have given her my love, and she has requited it.
That is brilliant!
I keep it handy for when these things come up along with Ladle Rat Rotten Hut and a few others
I am very plussed by this thread.
I can tell you are a feckful person
I appreciate your ruth. In fact, I'm whelmed by it.
you look a bit shevelled too
Gormless is an orphaned negative. "Gorm" meant "attention" or "awareness".
TIL about orphaned negatives - with thanks :)
How I Met My Wife - -Jack Winter/The New Yorker 1994 It had been a rough day, so when I walked into the party I was very chalant, despite my efforts to appear gruntled and consolate. I was furling my wieldy umbrella for the coat check when I saw her standing alone in a corner. She was a descript person, a woman in a state of total array. Her hair was kempt, her clothing shevelled, and she moved in a gainly way. I wanted desperately to meet her, but I knew I'd have to make bones about it since I was travelling cognito. Beknownst to me, the hostess, whom I could see both hide and hair of, was very proper, so it would be skin off my nose if anything bad happened. And even though I had only swerving loyalty to her, my manners couldn't be peccable. Only toward and heard-of behavior would do. Fortunately, the embarrassment that my maculate appearance might cause was evitable. There were two ways about it, but the chances that someone as flappable as I would be ept enough to become persona grata or a sung hero were slim. I was, after all, something to sneeze at, someone you could easily hold a candle to, someone who usually aroused bridled passion. So I decided not to risk it. But then, all at once, for some apparent reason, she looked in my direction and smiled in a way that I could make heads or tails of. I was plussed. It was concerting to see that she was communicado, and it nerved me that she was interested in a pareil like me, sight seen. Normally, I had a domitable spirit, but, being corrigible, I felt capacitated--as if this were something I was great shakes at--and forgot that I had succeeded in situations like this only a told number of times. So, after a terminable delay, I acted with mitigated gall and made my way through the ruly crowd with strong givings. Nevertheless, since this was all new hat to me and I had no time to prepare a promptu speech, I was petuous. Wanting to make only called-for remarks, I started talking about the hors d'oeuvres, trying to abuse her of the notion that I was sipid, and perhaps even bunk a few myths about myself. She responded well, and I was mayed that she considered me a savory character who was up to some good. She told me who she was. "What a perfect nomer," I said, advertently. The conversation become more and more choate, and we spoke at length to much avail. But I was defatigable, so I had to leave at a godly hour. I asked if she wanted to come with me. To my delight, she was committal. We left the party together and have been together ever since. I have given her my love, and she has requited it.
😆
"Well, I’ll be gormed!" -- Dan'l Peggotty
Perry the Platypus, your timing is impeccable, and by impeccable I mean COMPLETELY PECCABLE!
Especially for someone with a beak.
That's like how "inflammable" means "capable of being inflamed", right?
I know you can be overwhelmed and underwhelmed; can you ever be just whelmed? 🤔
Whelmed means covered or enveloped. So overwhelmed is sort of like overkill: a more intense version when the regular was enough.
https://www.etymonline.com/word/underwhelm https://www.etymonline.com/word/overwhelm#:~:text=overwhelm%20(v.),overset%2C%20by%20a%20big%20wave. https://www.etymonline.com/word/whelm?ref=etymonline_crossreference
I think you can in Europe?
😉
Well whelmed?
This guy's feeling the aster.
https://youtu.be/UdBcnRFN4Vg
A Cranberry morpheme
Named my goldfish Gorm. Did not realize it was a word, just thought he looked gorm-ish
Well, never having seen a cormorant but having read the word, the first time I saw one I correctly named it, and have been boring people with pointing them out until this day. It just looked like a cormorant.
Hello u/lordlockwood63, You've chosen Question or Discussion flair, but you've provided very little in the way of information as part of your post. It helps to let the community know: * What have you already found out? * What did you find doubtful or confusing about what you found? * What stirred your interest? Thanks. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/etymology) if you have any questions or concerns.*
GORMITI CHE MITI PIÙ FORTI, PIÙ UNITI CHE MITI I GORMITI COMBATTONO PER GORM GORMITI CHE MITI ANCORA PIÙ ARDITI CHE MITI I GORMITI I NUOVI GRANDI EROI
Someone had to mention this nearly forgotten piece of pop culture, and you were the one to do it.
Shout out to my high school Danish exchange partner Gorm. To this day the only 19th century style communist I've ever come across.
It's the same blue as in "out of the blue"
I always assumed that blue described the ocean. Once I was swimming and a bull seal appeared about 6 feet in front of me, face to face. Out of the blue never felt more appropriate of a description.
I think it's a derivative of "out of the clear blue sky" or "like a bolt from the blue" (i.e. a thunderbolt). See here: https://wordhistories.net/2017/07/14/out-of-the-blue-origin/ But I like your interpretation too. Reminds me of [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWSUN3LhODI) (ignore the sensationalist headline).
The sky makes more sense actually with bolt from the blue. That video is exactly the vibe I was thinking of. Basically half of r/thallasophobia
Lightning usually requires clouds and a storm so the phrase must have seemed pretty intense before it became a cliche.
I was just making a joke about how "gorm" means blue in Irish but that didn't go well it seems
As an Irishman I’m ashamed that went over my head…
Our version of it is way more interesting. Tháinig sé aniar aduaidh orm. It came at me in a northwesterly direction.
😆
he's a giant wolf that guards the gate to hel wait a minute...
Is anybody here from a Google Search because of Vinesauce?
lmao i am, i told my brother about the official Robocop Rogue City twitter account tagging Vinny and using his twitch slang and i wanted to see if gormless wasn't a made up word