Osfer Registered User
Joined: 12 Jul 2005 Posts: 50 Location: The Kingdom of Love
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Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2007 4:57 am Post subject: Awful and artificial: words evolve |
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Here's a fun one.
When St. Paul's Cathedral was completed, King James II looked at it, sniffed, and called it 'amusing, awful and artificial'. Christopher Wren, the architect, burst not into tears but into cheers.
The words, at the time, had different meaning. What King James II meant was, in today's terms, that the impressive cathedral was 'amazing, awe-inspiring and artistic'. _________________ Head pot-scrubber of Bad Dog Books |
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