Today, the word on the street is “it”.
Can you imagine the English language without the word it? Well apparently, neither could Old English speakers because in 725 (or 878 according to the Oxford English Dictionary) the word “hit” was first documented in the saga Beowolf, but may have been used for a time before that. Around 1200, the word “hit” went through a process called aphaeresis, dropping the unaccented “h” to turn into the word “it”. Even so, the word “hit” was still common until the end of the 1500’s (Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology).
Then in 1904, “it” began to take on new meanings. For example, in Rudyard Kipling’s 1904 Mrs. Bathurst, he uses it as slang for sexual appeal: “Tisn’t beauty, so to speak, nor good talk necessarily. It’s just it. Some women’ll stay in a man’s memory if they once walk down the street.” The expression became popular in the 1920’s with the phrase “it girl” as a stereotype for a popular and attractive woman when Clara Bow starred in the 1926 movie version of Elinor Glyn’s novel It” (The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins).
And without the word it, how would you be able to tag somebody in the childhood game?! The phrase “tag, you’re it” was thought to have come around in 1888 and has lasted to the present day. Since, then the word “it” has proved to be versatile; from Stephen King’s use of “it” to discuss the mystique of the word, to the rapper Two Pistol’s song “she got it”. The word “it” currently has numerous meanings and uses which would take hours to recite, but it seems clear that the word “it” will continue to evolve into new and various forms.
And so without further ado, that’s it!
Can you imagine the English language without the word it? Well apparently, neither could Old English speakers because in 725 (or 878 according to the Oxford English Dictionary) the word “hit” was first documented in the saga Beowolf, but may have been used for a time before that. Around 1200, the word “hit” went through a process called aphaeresis, dropping the unaccented “h” to turn into the word “it”. Even so, the word “hit” was still common until the end of the 1500’s (Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology).
Then in 1904, “it” began to take on new meanings. For example, in Rudyard Kipling’s 1904 Mrs. Bathurst, he uses it as slang for sexual appeal: “Tisn’t beauty, so to speak, nor good talk necessarily. It’s just it. Some women’ll stay in a man’s memory if they once walk down the street.” The expression became popular in the 1920’s with the phrase “it girl” as a stereotype for a popular and attractive woman when Clara Bow starred in the 1926 movie version of Elinor Glyn’s novel It” (The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins).
And without the word it, how would you be able to tag somebody in the childhood game?! The phrase “tag, you’re it” was thought to have come around in 1888 and has lasted to the present day. Since, then the word “it” has proved to be versatile; from Stephen King’s use of “it” to discuss the mystique of the word, to the rapper Two Pistol’s song “she got it”. The word “it” currently has numerous meanings and uses which would take hours to recite, but it seems clear that the word “it” will continue to evolve into new and various forms.
And so without further ado, that’s it!
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