curiouser

[Nathan Bierma]

Applying 'curious' to inanimate antecedents sounds to me like a new sense of the word ... 
 
Bush (5/8/07): I find it curious that they would offer comfort to our enemies instead of to our warriors. In other words, offering comfort to our enemies instead of to our warriors is something that I find curious.
 
... but (Recency Illusion strikes again) I see OED has these definitions, with 17th- and 18th-century cites:
 
15. Calling forth feelings of interest; interesting, noteworthy. Obs. or arch.
16. a. Deserving or exciting attention on account of its novelty or peculiarity; exciting curiosity; somewhat surprising, strange, singular, odd; queer. (The ordinary current objective sense.)
17. Such as interests the curioso or connoisseur. Obs.
 
Do contemporary usages such as Bush's (obviously euphemistic; not sure how often this use of 'curious' is euphemistic) actually represent a revival of these old ("obs.") definitions? 
Why do they sound unusual to me? (Or is it just me?) 
 
(Alice in Wonderland, of course, rebukes her own 'curious and curiouser' as a failure to 'speak good English,' but I thought her perceived error was the use of the suffix '-er,' not the use of 'curious' with an inanimate (or null, in this case) antecedent. Cf.: 'It's the most curious thing I ever say in my life!' Ch. 6)
 
Thanks,
 
Nathan
 
 
Nathan Bierma
"On Language"
www.nbierma.com/language 
 

 
 

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