Ameliorated words of offensive origin

[Laurence Horn]

At 8:49 AM -0500 2/28/01, Robert Hartwell Fiske wrote:
>Have these been offered:
>
>boy: (servant) --> (child)
>
And, moving in the opposite direction, "knave" (orig. 'boy',
'servant').  Of course there are dozens of words related to the
"common people" that have undergone similar pejoration; the
amelioration process is rarer and/or less predictable, despite the
numerous instances we've been discussing.

larry