LL-L "Etymology" 2007.11.18 (03) [E]

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L O W L A N D S - L  -  18 November 2007 - Volume 03
Song Contest: lowlands-l.net/contest/ (- 31 Dec. 2007)
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From: Ben J. Bloomgren <ben.j.bloomgren at gmail.com>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2007.11.17 (04) [E]

 In colloquial American English, the semantics of this expanded to include
"attractive", possibly via "admirably quick-/keen-witted". This appeared in
literature
in the early part of the 19th century. This sense predominates now. Not too
long ago it was limited to the sense of "sweet" or "precious", especially of
small or young creatures (including children) and female humans. In the
meantime, it has come to include the sense of "sexually attractive" with
reference
to both genders.

Paul, Ron, Elsie and all,

Whenever I hear the word "cute", I hear my mother watching our beloved
Arizona Diamondbacks baseball team back in Arizona. Whenever a new batter
would come up to bat, she would comment on whether he's cute or not. My dad,
my brother and I would just laugh and sigh, as we have no idea where she
gets her concepts. They have nothing at all to do with baseball. They're
just her concepts of what an attractive man is or is not. On the usage of
cute though, it's something that, in my estimation, is said by a woman about
a man. You would not catch a man dead saying that a woman is cute. She's
hot, but she is not cute!
Ben

•

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