[FRIAM] FW: Pondering the slang Adulting

Wed Nov 14 00:55:17 EST 2018

Sorry, all.  I meant this also to go to the list.  See below:

Frank, this etymology seems wildly improbable.  Do you think you might try it on your Latin scholar and see what she thinks.  I suppose the two words could have converged in time.  But I am awfully tempted by the notion of an adult as one who lacks innocence.  On the other hand, the notion of a child as innocent sounds terrible Rousseau.  

It’s a hairball. 

Is the on-line etymology site reliable?  I have been using it for years and sometimes the results are a bit bizarre. 

Nick 

Nicholas S. Thompson

Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology

Clark University

 <http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/> http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

From: Nick Thompson [mailto:nickthompson at earthlink.net] 
Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2018 9:31 PM
To: 'Frank Wimberly' <wimberly3 at gmail.com>
Subject: RE: [FRIAM] Pondering the slang Adulting

The online etymological dictionary seems to suggest that there are two quite different sources for adult and adulterate.  Seems unlike, but there it is:   

adult (adj.)

1530s (but not common until mid-17c.) "grown, mature," from Latin adultus "grown up, mature, adult, ripe," past participle of adolescere "grow up, come to maturity, ripen," from ad "to" (see ad- <https://www.etymonline.com/word/ad-?ref=etymonline_crossreference> ) + alescere "be nourished," hence, "increase, grow up," inchoative of alere "to nourish," from a suffixed form of PIE root *al- <https://www.etymonline.com/word/*al-?ref=etymonline_crossreference#etymonline_v_52550>  (2) "to grow, nourish." 

Meaning "mature in attitude or outlook" is from 1929. As a euphemism for "pornographic," it dates to 1958 and does no honor to the word. In the old British film-rating system, A indicated "suitable for exhibit to adult audiences," and thus, implicitly, unsuitable for children (1914).

adultery (n.)

"voluntary violation of the marriage bed," c. 1300, avoutrie, from Old French avouterie (12c., later adulterie, Modern French adultĕre), noun of condition from avoutre, from Latin adulterare "commit adultery; corrupt," from ad "to" (see ad- <https://www.etymonline.com/word/ad-?ref=etymonline_crossreference> ) + alterare "to alter" (see alter <https://www.etymonline.com/word/alter?ref=etymonline_crossreference> ). Compare adulteration <https://www.etymonline.com/word/adulteration?ref=etymonline_crossreference> . The spelling was corrected toward Latin from early 15c. in English, following French (see ad- <https://www.etymonline.com/word/ad-?ref=etymonline_crossreference> ). 

In Middle English, also "sex between husband and wife for recreational purposes; idolatry, perversion, heresy." As a crime, formerly classified as single adultery (with an unmarried person) and double adultery (with a married person). The Old English word was æwbryce "breach of law(ful marriage)" (similar formation in German Ehebruch). In translations of the 7th Commandment it is understood to mean "lewdness or unchastity" of any kind, in act or thought.

Nicholas S. Thompson

Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology

Clark University

 <http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/> http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

From: Frank Wimberly [mailto:wimberly3 at gmail.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2018 8:56 PM
To: Thompson, Nicholas <nickthompson at earthlink.net <mailto:nickthompson at earthlink.net> >
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Pondering the slang Adulting

Written with tongue in cheek:

Adulthood usually involves unadulterated avoidance of infantile and adolescent (recapitulates infancy) themes such as adultery (Oedipal) which frequently appear in adult movies, so-called because they are ill-advised for viewing by children who should know that there is hope of escaping the, to them, terrifying universal sexual dramas.

-----------------------------------
Frank Wimberly

My memoir:
https://www.amazon.com/author/frankwimberly

My scientific publications:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Frank_Wimberly2

Phone (505) 670-9918

On Tue, Nov 13, 2018, 8:38 PM Nick Thompson <nickthompson at earthlink.net <mailto:nickthompson at earthlink.net>  wrote:

I have often mused about trying to explain to a child what “adult” means, given

Adulthood

Adulterate

Adult movies

Adultery

N

Nicholas S. Thompson

Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology

Clark University

http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

From: Friam [mailto:friam-bounces at redfish.com <mailto:friam-bounces at redfish.com> ] On Behalf Of Gillian Densmore
Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2018 4:26 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <friam at redfish.com <mailto:friam at redfish.com> >
Subject: [FRIAM] Pondering the slang Adulting

I got to talking with dad today and I hadn't though about how the slang adulting might have come about. My guess was in the sense of 'going off to be a' if you have a playful personality 

Thoughts?

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