09/30/23 Weekend Grif.Net - Piqued My Interest
b...@grif.net
A few days ago, the wife asked if I was well. Wondered because I look a little peaked. Of course, this got me wandering the ‘net looking at that word. Found that Kelly Kazek shared ideas a few years ago on why many say ‘peak-ed’ with two syllables got my attention. Credit her for this information.
There are words that LOOK like one syllable but are PRONOUNCED in two (or three) syllables. These include "aged," "learned," "naked," "ragged," "rugged," "sacred," or "supposed."
As a pastor I have often used the more elegiac "beloved," "blessed," "accursed" and "winged," (in my most sonorous tones) and I’m not even from the South. I know, How "wretched" of me.
Have you ever felt sick, and someone said, "You look a little peaked?" This kind of "peaked" means looking ill, pronounced with two syllables: peek-id.
We are NOT talking about when your interest is "peaked". That was the word play of the title "pique" which is a homonym meaning both to "irritate" and to "stimulate" interest.
Noun: "peak" = pointed tip of a mountain or object
Verb: “peak” = high point of activity
So how does this mean looking sickly? Simply because in a sickly-looking person their illness frequently causes weight loss and a haggard, wasted appearance resulting in 'sharp' (i.e., bony) facial features, making the nose, chin, etc., appear to end in sharp points.
I will add that aging, lack of proper nutrition, or sleeplessness (all of which I possess in abundance) may also lead to a 'peaked' appearance. Hence why I eat so much, lest people think I’m ill.
I agree with Shakespeare's Macbeth, the first English use of peak this way, “Weary sev'n nights nine times nine, Shall he dwindle, peak and pine.”
~~
Dr Bob Griffin
"Jesus Knows Me, This I Love!"
