The Etymology of Copywriting
Here’s a topic that’s close to my heart: etymology (aka the origins of words). I am fascinated by the history of the words we use and love to spot links between the English we use today and our medieval Norse/Germanic/French invaders. The English language wouldn’t be what it is now without these foreign influences and almost everything we write and say has a meaning hidden somewhere in the Middle Ages.
For today’s blog post, I thought I’d take a quick look at the etymology of five key copywriting and proofreading terms - why do I proclaim to write ‘copy’ and read ‘proof’? What does that actually mean?
Copy
The word ‘copy’ comes from our Old French and Latin ancestors. In Latin 'copia’ means an ‘abundant reproduction or transcript’. The term was then later extended to include any type of writing that had been given to a printer to reproduce - a bit like giving someone your handwritten notes to type up. Therefore when I’m ‘copywriting’, it literally means I’m creating a transcript of words.
Proof
The word ‘proof’ in relation to proofreading has French origins. The Old French ‘proeve’ meant to ‘test something beyond reasonable doubt’. This must be where the phrase used in court originates from. The term was later used by the printing industry, with a proofreader being used to read printers’ copy and look for corrections - ensuring the content is correct ‘beyond reasonable doubt’.
Edit
The verb ‘to edit’ is a more recent addition to the English language, from around the 18th Century. Its origins are in Latin ‘editus’ - to give out or publish - but the use of the word edit as in ‘make edits to a text’ didn’t appear until almost 1900. A content editor, therefore is simply someone who publishes or ‘puts out’ text into the world.
Words
Where would a writer be without their words? The word ‘word’ is actually an Old English noun that once referred to anything spoken, from speech and sentences to statements or news. Essentially, a ‘word’ is anything used to communicate meaning. Its origins are in the Proto-Germanic ‘wurda’ , simply meaning ‘to speak or say’.
Grammar
We’re saving the best for last here! The noun ‘grammar’ has origins in both the Greek ‘grammatike’ meaning ‘the art of letters’ and the Old French ‘gramaire’ meaning 'magic or occult learning'. That’s right, magic. The modern word ‘gramary’ still means ‘occult learning’ and remains directly related to the modern word ‘grammar’, meaning ‘rules of language’… is there a link between knowing correct grammar and knowing magic?!
Which is your favourite word meaning? Do you know any others that I’ve not included here? The thought of a book of grammar being the same as a book of spells is one I think I’ll cherish forever.
