Ornery meaning

Readers who are familiar with one of the more common senses of ornery "irritable" might well be surprised to learn that the word microsoft jigsaw an alteration of the word ordinaryas this root word has little ornery meaning do with feelings of peevishness. Yet this is the case, ornery meaning, and there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for how this meaning came about. Ornery was first used in American regional speech in the beginning of the 19th century as a simple variant of ordinaryand for some while it had the same meaning. Soon enough, however, ornery meaning, it began to take on some of the more negative aspects ornery meaning ordinary.

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Ornery meaning

The experience helped me to understand my emotions toward her in a way I never could have managed as an ornery year-old. The characters you play on the show are extremely diverse—ranging from a cocaine-rattled rich boy to an ornery Jewish grandpa. The budding relationship between the ornery sexagenarian and the precocious young child ultimately gives the film its momentum. With Nebraska, however, the movie received a minute standing ovation by the famously ornery French crowd. We had some pretty ornery people, and we had to find a way to compromise and get things done. He's an ornery cuss kind of Republican, extremely critical of Bush and Cheney back in the day. With a roast apple in his snout, and a ribbon—a blue—no, a pink ribbon decorating his ornery little tail. I felt so ornery and low down and mean that I says to myself, my mind's made up; I'll hive that money for them or bust. The Irish may be ornery , and they aint worth much, but they are a whole lot better than the —— —— Dutch. I'm for the Union as she air, and withered be the arm of every ornery cuss who attempts to bust her up. The jail was a ornery edifiss, but the table was librally surplied with Bakin an Cabbidge.

About 0. Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English. Browse alphabetically ornery.

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the adjective ornery. Etymons: ordinary adj. Sign in with library card. Sign in as administrator on Oxford Academic. Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into ornery, adj. Please include your email address if you are happy to be contacted about your feedback. OUP will not use this email address for any other purpose.

Readers who are familiar with one of the more common senses of ornery "irritable" might well be surprised to learn that the word is an alteration of the word ordinary , as this root word has little to do with feelings of peevishness. Yet this is the case, and there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for how this meaning came about. Ornery was first used in American regional speech in the beginning of the 19th century as a simple variant of ordinary , and for some while it had the same meaning. Soon enough, however, it began to take on some of the more negative aspects of ordinary. It was used to describe things that were common, and especially common things of inferior quality. Next, it developed a sense synonymous with lazy. Those lazy folks dubbed "ornery" were also apparently easily annoyed and touchy. By the end of the 19th century ornery had taken on its now-common meaning of "cantankerous.

Ornery meaning

Modern lexicographers tend to avoid inserting their own character into definitions; it's difficult enough to accurately define the messiness that is the English language without having to worry about whether one's own foibles or prejudices are muddying the semantic waters. Samuel Johnson, famous for the occasional definitional bon mot he defined lexicographer as "a harmless drudge" gets a pass, but he's not all that modern. However, every so often we come across a definition which, although it would probably not pass muster in today's dictionaries, makes this sort of editorializing seem reasonable. As when Bret Harte defined ornery as "Corruption of 'ordinary,' with a spice of contempt. Harte was a poet and short story writer, not a lexicographer, but near the end of the 19th century included a "Glossary of Far-Western Terms" in one of his books. Most of his definitions are rather straightforward and dry; the 'spice of contempt' addition is just the sort of short and poetic turn of phrase that manages to convey more information than heaps of technical jargon would. It is a memorable definition, and all the better for being largely accurate. The English-speaking people have been shortening ordinary in one manner or another since at least the early 16th century. It may be found rendered as ornary , ornarie , and in several other ways.

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Word Lists. These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ornery. Translations of ornery in Chinese Traditional. British and American pronunciations with audio. Yet this is the case, and there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for how this meaning came about. Teaching Resources. Those lazy folks dubbed "ornery" were also apparently easily annoyed and touchy. Korean to English. German to English. English American Examples Translations. Next, it developed a sense synonymous with lazy. Copy to clipboard Copied to clipboard. Soon enough, however, it began to take on some of the more negative aspects of ordinary. English images.

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English—Japanese Japanese—English. Sign in as administrator on Oxford Academic. March 1, Read more. And best of all it's ad free, so sign up now and start using at home or in the classroom. English to Traditional. Tell us about this example sentence:. Chinese English to Simplified. Blossom Word Game You can make only 12 words. Semi-bilingual Dictionaries. First recorded in —; contraction of ordinary. Read more. No one has the inside track on which of dozens, perhaps hundreds, of ornery , obstreperous, unkempt bands might next appeal to the mall-walking millions. English synonyms.