.jpg/425px-Illustration_of_revolving_stairs_(U.S._Patent_25,076_issued_to_Nathan_Ames,_9_August_1859).jpg) |
| Patent diagram of the first escalator (“revolving stairs”) – 1859 |
This one got me. I admit it. I looked it up during edits on a WhiteFire book because I wasn’t sure it was quite early enough in the sense used. And what do I find? A surprise!
Escalate is new. Darn new. As in, from 1922–and that’s in the literal sense. It’s actually a back-formation of escalator (from 1900). Before that, the verb had been escalade. Not so different a word, right? Except that escalade has exactly one meaning: “to use ladders to scale a fortified wall.” Yeah, um…not how I use escalate!
So what of that meaning? The “to raise,” or “to intensify” meaning? Well…that didn’t come around until the Cold War! 1959 to be exact. I had no idea it was so new!
Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.
Very cool! I never would have guessed it was so new. I just love these posts.
Wow! Never would have guessed! Love these posts (but I think you knew that lol)
Wow! The evolution of languages is so interesting; new words appearing or changing their meanings all the time. My favourite use of escalate is in the phrase: 'well that escalated quickly'. … no ladders to be seen 🙂