Can we depend on them?

As promised, I've added a subpage to our Home page with a link to a brief history from the course I gave last year on the Oxford English Dictionary.  If we have time, we can look at it today. Otherwise, I'll be happy to answer any questions you have next time.

by

"The Road Not Taken" is an instance of Frost's trickery. What is there to say about  the three lines that end the poem? English teachers have driven students crazy when they point back to these earlier lines. Is it a poem celebrating taking the less travelled route and presumably gaining by doing so? Here's the whole poem:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Here are two OED entries for by that show what Frost is up to:

II.i.14 c1384–

Through, or so as to pass (in one's course); also expanded into by way of.

• 1885 Leaving the building by a side door.
  Law Reports: Queen's Bench Division  vol. 15 14

II.iii.16.a. c1380–

On alongside of, into the vicinity of and on beyond, past. Originally the nearness in passing was emphasized; in later use ‘by’ is more frequently distinguished from ‘through’ or other word, and expresses passing without stopping or contact, and thus avoidance, aloofness; but often the notion is merely that of getting beyond, or to the other side of, and pass by, go by merely = pass.

• 1820 She saw him, as once she pass'd him by.
  J. Keats, Lamia  i, in Lamia & Other Poems 21

Frost's biographers have suggested that he wrote the piece in part to tease a friend noted for his indecisive approach on walks—which path to take? The distinct but related meanings of by make the poem's point. 

Here's the passage for the Indo European root identified in Shipley's book:

ambhi: around, both. Some of its uses fuse with al III. Gk, amphitheatre, . . .  amphora: two-handed jar, diminutive ... L.  ambiguous; ambient; ambidextrous. amputate. ambition: . . . . amble, etc. ambulance (OFr hôpital ambulant). ambivalence, coined by Sigmund Freud. It,. andante, andantino.

Gc, bivouac: by, but. Ge bi, E be, is a most prolific prefix. First meaning around, then all around, it came to be used as an intensive, for emphasis. Editor James Murray spoke of 1500 such words from which to select for OED; OED lists 262, then details others in 39 columns. They seem to fall into five groups:

(1) Many have become obsolete, as bebass: to kiss all over; becack. (2) Of some, the simple form, without the prefix, has lapsed, as bewildered, behavior, beware.

(3) Some have now a different meaning from the simple form, as bequest, becoming (Mourning Becomes Electra, play by Eugene O'Neill).

(4)  Some differ from the simple form in use, part of speech, as beguile, verb; guile, noun. befoul, be-friend, benighted.

5) In some, emphasis is merely added to the simple form, as bedaubed, befuddled, bewail, bespatter, beloved. ambsace: both aces; lowest throw, hence bad luck.

The ambuguity Frost develops, particularly at the end, leads to the friendly poke at his indecisive friend (who seems not to have embraced the joke--see the commentary in the Poetry Foundation text of the poem.).

sanction

The word sanction has an interesting history that helps to explain the divergent meanings. Here are examples from the OED:

Noun:

1570–

A law or decree; esp. an ecclesiastical decree. [So Latin sanctio; compare French ‘sanctions ou ordonnances ecclesiastiques’, 1516 in Godefroy.]  Obsolete exc. Historical.

2.b. 1692– 

Law. Extended to include the provision of rewards for obedience, along with punishments for disobedience, to a law (remuneratory sanction, as distinguished from vindicatory or punitive sanction).

2.c. 1651–

The part or clause of a law which declares the penalty attached to infringement. Similarly in a charter (see quot. 1844 at sense 2a). [So Latin sanctio.]  Obsolete exc. Historical.

2.d. 1919–

Politics. Esp. in plural, economic or military action taken by a state or alliance of states against another as a coercive measure, usually to enforce a violated law or treaty.

2.b. contains the ambiguity that we'll see later.

3 1681–

Ethics. A consideration which operates to enforce obedience to any law or rule of conduct; a recognized motive for conformity to moral or religious law, operating either through the agent's desire for some resultant good or through fear of some resultant evil.

4. 1611–

Binding force given to an oath; something which makes an oath or engagement binding; †a solemn oath or engagement.

5. 1658–

The action of rendering legally authoritative or binding; solemn confirmation or ratification given to a law, enactment, etc. by a supreme authority.

6.a. 1720–

An express authoritative permission or recognition (e.g. of an action, procedure, custom, institution, etc.).

6.b. 1738–

figurative. Now also in looser sense, countenance or encouragement given (intentionally or otherwise) to an opinion or practice by a person of influence, by custom, public sentiment, etc.

7.a. 1727–

Something which serves to support, authorize, or confirm an action, procedure, etc.

7.b. 1791–1813

† A recommendation or testimonial. Obsolete.

8. 1753–

Assurance of protection under the laws of hospitality. (Confused with sanctuary?) rare.

Here are some entries for the verb form of the word, showing similar oppositions:

1. 1778–

To ratify or confirm by sanction or solemn enactment; to invest with legal or sovereign authority; to make valid or binding.

2.a. 1797–

To permit authoritatively; to authorize; in looser use, to countenance, encourage by express or implied approval.

2.b. 1876–

To allege sanction for; to justify as permissible.

3. 1825–

To enforce (a law, legal obligation, etc.) by attaching a penalty to transgression. Cf. sanction n. 2a, 2b.

4. 1956–

To impose sanctions upon (a person), to penalize.

Shipley identifies the root as sak, "to make holy"--sacrament, sacrifice; as in many languages, the vowel can be nazalized (as in Brazilian Portuguese Saõ Paulo), thus saint, sanctify, sanction.

host

Let's start with Shipley here. Here's a whole page; it's fun to see how he operates—the quotation from Dorothy Parker is typical. [Note that Gk=Greek, L=Latin, Gc=Germanic, Slav=Slavic, and so on.

ghi: open wide, Gk, chasm, chaos. Jan Baptista von Helmont (d. 1644), who is credited with coining the word gas, said he based it on the word chaos; but Paracelsus (d. 1541) used the word gas to mean air. OED lists 85 combinations of gas, as gas-gauge, gas-ring; and details 17 more, as gasify, gaslight; gasoline. often abbreviated, as in "Step on the gas!" coal-gas, about 1800, was the first gas used for illumination.

L hiare, hiatum. hiatus. dehiscence. Gc, yawn; gap, gape. gill: a ravine. lam-mergeier: voracious vulture, "lamb-eater."

Guns aren't lawful,

Nooses give;

Gas smells awful;

You might as well live.

-Dorothy Parker, Résumé

P. Hood, in 1883, mentions "the lass with the lantern, the constant attendant of every lady who might happen in those gasless days to be out after nightfall."

ghostis: stranger; hence to be welcomed or feared; break bread, or break his head.

L hospes, hospitis (hosti-potis: lord of strangers; see poti). Hospes, Roman god of strangers. L hostis: stranger. Thus "mine host" of the hospitable hotel. hospice, hostel, hostler, ostler. hospital, hospitality. But also the hosts of hostile armies, and hostage.

The host: bread consecrated at the Eucharist, is from L hostia: a victim for sacrifice, from hostis: stranger. Strange are the turns of human thought.

Slav hospodar: lord of strangers; Russ gospodin. Gc, guest.

Perhaps cognate with this root is Gk xenos: stranger, also enemy or guest; see xenos.

In this house with starry dome, 

Floored with gemlike plains and seas,

Shall I never feel at home, 

Never wholly be at ease? ...

On from room to room I stray, 

Yet mine host can ne'er espy, 

And I know not to this day

Whether guest or captive I.

-William Watson, World-Strangeness

ghou(e): to honor. L favere. favor, favorite. Gc, gawk: stare at.

"He that goeth about to persuade a multitude that they are not so well governed as they ought to be, shall never want attentive and favourable hearers"-Richard Hooker, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiasticall Politie (1594).

ghre: become green. Gc, green, but see gel I. grow. grass, grasshopper. "Many persons have a grasshopper mind, apop from stem to stalk." OED devotes four columns to the word grass; then lists 112 combinations, as grass-guard, grass-work; then details 15 relevant words, as grassman, grass widow, plus 6 grasshopper combinations.

"You may eat... the grasshopper according to its kind"-Bible, Leviticus 11:22 (ca. 700 B.C.). You may also drink a grasshopper: a cocktail mixing crème de menthe, crème de cacao, and cream,  dating from ca. A.D. 1969.

ghrebh I: hollow; dig, scratch. Gc, grave, greave, groove; grub. engrave.

We'll sit contentedly

And eat our pot of honey on the grave.

George Meredith, Modern Love

Note the link between host and guest, a common change in pronunciation. Also the holy ghost, the holy guest, or the holy spirit, as in German geist—also one of our ghostis words.

Ten of the eleven meanings listed in the OED are still current. 

• 1.1303–

• A person who lodges and entertains another in his or her home: the correlative to guest.

• • 2.a. c1290–

  • spec. A person who lodges and entertains for payment; a person who keeps a public place of lodging or entertainment; the landlord or landlady of an inn. Often in archaic phrase mine (my) host = the landlord or landlady of such and such an inn.

• • 2.b. 1490–

  • Prov. to reckon (†count) without (†before) one's host: to calculate one's bill or score without consulting one's host or landlord; to come to conclusions without taking into consideration some important circumstance of the case.

• • 3.a. 1857–

  • Biology. An animal or plant having a parasite or commensal habitually living in or upon it.

• • 3.b. 1906–

  • Biology and Medicine. An animal or person that is the recipient of tissue, an organ, etc., that has been transplanted into it from another.

• 4. 1390–1559

• † A guest. Cf. hoastman n. Obsolete.

• • 5.a. 1889–

  • Geology. A mineral mass containing a different mineral; a rock containing an ore deposit or foreign rock. Frequently attributive.

  • 
    

  • 5.b. 1939–

  • Physics and Chemistry. A crystal lattice or molecular structure containing a foreign ion, atom, or molecule; spec.  (a) A crystal or a crystalline material to which a small amount of some impurity has been added to make it luminescent;  (b) that component of a clathrate compound that encloses or surrounds the other component. Usually attributive.

Additional sense (1993) 1948–

• transferred. One who hosts a programme of entertainment, a compère; esp. the presenter of a television or radio show to which guests are invited or which is broadcast before a live audience.

The verb meanings are sparser:

• • 1.a. 1485–

  • transitive. To receive (a person) into one's house and entertain as a guest. Also, to receive into one's town, country, etc.; to be the host at (a party, dinner, etc.); to compère (a television show, etc.).

• • 1.b. 1868–

  • intransitive. To play the host.

• 2. ?c1450–1658

• † intransitive. To be a guest; to lodge, put up. Obsolete.

Additional sense (2015) 1983–

• transitive. Electronics. To accommodate the connection of or provide a service for (a subsidiary device). Also Computing: to store (a website, software, data, etc.) on a server or other computer so that it can be accessed over the internet; (of a computer) to serve as a host for (cf. host n.2 Additions a).