IMMORTAL. etc. -=- WAS Railroad cart

[Laurence Horn]

At 9:35 PM -0400 4/19/07, James C Stalker wrote:
>Passed = passed over, as he in "He has passed over the River Jordan."
>Perhaps, passed on (to another realm, life, depending on ones beliefs).  I
>have most typically heard "passed over" rather than "passed on," I think.
>
>Late: perhaps a shortening of "lately of this world"?
>
>JCS

The earliest OED cites of "late" in the relevant sense (glossed as
'that was alive not long ago, but is not now; recently deceased')
suggest a different derivation but one related to what you suggest.
At least the second and third cites, from the 16th c.--

1490 CAXTON Eneydos vi. 28 Her swete and late amyable husbonde.
a1548 HALL Chron., Hen. IV, 10b, The homecide of Thomas his uncle
late duke of Glocester.
1570 BUCHANAN Admonitioun Wks. (S.T.S.) 22 Ye murthour of ye lait King Henry.

--suggest a reanalysis from 'one who was lately [= recently]
duke/king/husband' from the meaning of 'recently/formerly X' with the
*implication* of 'no longer X' to the *meaning* of 'no longer X' and
thence to 'no longer X because of being dead'.  In any case, it's
definitely from "lately", not a reason for failing to be on time.

LH

>
>Doug Harris writes:
>
>>Similarly, why do we refer to someone who's "passed"
>>(passed???? -- what? Go? Did they collect their $200??)
>>as "late". The latter clearly sets up false hope, as
>>the supposedly 'late' person most assuredly isn't coming.
>>Unless, of course, it's a second coming... but that's
>>another issue altogether.
>>(the other) doug
>>
>>
>>(Why do we call people "immortal" only after they're dead?)
>>
>>m a m
>>
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>>
>
>
>
>James C. Stalker
>Department of English
>Michigan State University
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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