Finding Out About Happy and Happiness

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hello. Hello. This is Kiko calling from Lorain, Ohio.

Hi, Kiko. Welcome to the show. What’s up?

My language question was the word happy. I’ve been told that happiness isn’t even a word that existed a long time ago and that it actually kind of came up as like a marketing ploy or something like that. So I was wondering if you guys can kind of elaborate on that and let me know where the word happiness came from because everybody wants to be happy. And are we chasing something that doesn’t even exist?

Happiness as a marketing ploy. Well, Martha, I don’t know about that. I’m so glad you asked about happy and happiness because those two words have been around for centuries, but they’ve changed a little bit in meaning over the years. Because originally the words happy and happiness had less to do with how you felt and more about what happened to you. They both come from a very old English word, hap, which means chance or luck. And you see that same root in words like happen and mishap, which is when something happens that’s not good for you, and hapless when somebody is unlucky.

And so in Middle English, hundreds of years ago, the word happy meant fortunate or somebody who has good luck, you know, like a happy accident. And so back then, the idea of happiness, these two words, happy and happiness, referred to something that arrived from outside, you know, if fortune smiled on you. And it was only over time that happy became something that came from within. And in fact, think about in the 1700s, happiness began to be thought of as more of a legitimate aim of life, you know, something that you tried to get, a project. And we see that, of course, enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, which talks about this fundamental right to the pursuit of happiness. So at that point, it wasn’t so much about the luck you got, but this state that you had a right to cultivate and aspire to.

So that feeling that you get when you have good luck, right? That positive, overwhelming emotion. Yeah. How about that? So they have a long history, both those words. That was awesome. I’m very glad you guys shared that with me.

Are you happy?

Yeah, I am. I am. I am happy right now. Perhaps. I got a big smile on my face.

Well, Kiko, that’s what we know. And thank you for your call. We really appreciate it.

Thank you guys very much. And you have a blessed day.

All right. Take care. Appreciate it.

Yeah, so perhaps is related, happenstance. Happy-go-lucky still has that notion of luck in it right there. Yeah, that’s a good point. Kind of doubled up. Happy and luck, both kind of referring to luck. And then haphazard. It’s kind of about that dice throw that is hazardous by chance.

Yes, and it’s not as if the idea of what we think of happiness today didn’t exist necessarily. That just wasn’t the word we used. Right, right. There were words like bliss and merriment and, yeah, things like that. But I just find it fascinating that those words originally had the sense of luck enshrined inside.

There is a quote from Ivor Brown, the language commentator. He says, happiness is a chubby, fubsy, comfortable word. And while suited to all the minor pleasures of life, it cannot be applied to the major joys with any feeling of verbal perfection. Fubsy is an archaic word meaning fat or stout, but a chubby, fubsy, comfortable word. I love that. Sounds like a baby.

We’d love to hear from you. What are your chubby, fubsy, comfortable words that you’d like to talk about? Send them an email to words@waywordradio.org or call or text toll-free 877-929-9673.