Sarah from Grove City, Pennsylvania, says her husband had no idea what she meant when she said she wanted to make over him. Besides its other meanings, the verb to make over someone also means to be affectionate towards them. The terms make of and to make on have long meant to value highly or treat with great consideration. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “To Make Over Someone Can also Mean to Fuss Over Them”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hi, my name is Sarah and I’m calling from Grove City, Pennsylvania.
Hello, Sarah.
Hi.
What can we do for you?
I was hoping you could help me. I am a newlywed. We just celebrated our first year anniversary.
Congratulations.
I grew up in Texas. I live in Pennsylvania. My husband is from western Pennsylvania. So there’s a lot of things that I say that he’s never heard before.
The other day we were driving in the car, and as newlyweds, I was feeling all lovey and dovey, and I reached over to hug him and give him a big squeeze, and I said to him, I just want to make over you.
And he was puzzled, and he said, what do you mean? I said, make over you. I want to make over you. And he said, I have no idea what you’re talking about. And I said, it means to love on you.
He said, well, you can love on me, but don’t use that phrase. It’s such a strange phrase. Dude, she’s going to be sweet with you. Just shush, shush. He said I could love on him, but that was a weird phrase.
So he said maybe that’s because you’re from Texas. And I said, no, I’ve heard other people say it. And then he said it has to be from your family. And I swear I have heard other people use it other than my family. So I tried to Google it, and I really can’t find anything about it. Am I the only person that uses this phrase?
No. Not at all. Martha has a very nice look on her face. She’s nodding in agreement. She’s got a look of surprise. I’m shocked that nobody’s heard of that. She’s put on her word rescue cape. She’s going to swing in here and save the day for you.
Good. I hope my husband has to eat crow after this. And I have no idea where that phrase comes from, but I do know what it means. Or do his own making of, right?
Yeah, you can make up after you make over and make out. Who knew prepositions could be so hot, right?
I know. But, Martha, you know this expression, to make of someone, to make a fuss over, to be sweet with, or be lovey to?
Well, sure. This is one of these situations where I’m thinking, why is she even, you know, why would anybody even ask that question? Right. Because I grew up with that.
Yeah. You know, grandparents making over you, making a fuss over you, or spoiling a child. But I’m looking in the Dictionary of American Regional English, and it’s kind of scattered.
Yeah, it’s sprinkled all over Missouri, Texas, Kentucky, Arkansas. Kentucky, Tennessee. Maybe slightly more common in the South, but not that many reports of it.
Yeah, I’m shocked. You can find it in literature. It’s got hundreds of years of history, depending on how we want to connect it back. There are a couple of entries in very dense and comprehensive dictionaries that talk about to make of or to make on. And the meaning is to value highly or to treat with great consideration.
And I think that there’s probably a relationship here between what you’re talking about, to make of someone, and this to treat with consideration. I think there’s probably a relationship there. Although, as Martha is saying, like, the thing is, when you add that preposition, you kind of throw away all the etymological history and you kind of start over.
Because prepositional compounds like that are difficult. Verb phrases, they just don’t. The preposition immediately changes and it can become something else. Anyway, you’re not the only one who does it. It’s common enough to be recorded in dialect dictionaries and regular dictionaries, and you can find it in the best literature.
Oh, I’m so glad. And it kind of makes sense. I grew up in Texas, and both, I was born in Indiana, so I’m a huser growing up in Texas, but both of my mom and my dad’s people are from Kentucky and Louisiana. So maybe it is more of a southern thing than something he would not have heard necessarily in western Pennsylvania.
So just to be clear, there’s nothing missing from this phrase. People might think, oh, the word fuss is missing or to-do. It should be make a to-do over or make a fuss over. It’s not missing. This is the actual phrase, to make over someone. And it doesn’t mean to put makeup on them. And it’s not directly related, etymologically or historically, to make out at all.
Oh, good. So it has nothing. It didn’t morph into that.
No, no. It’s its own thing. It looks like it’s got its own history, its own tributary of English that it’s lived for a very long time.
Oh, that’s so cool. I’m so glad. I can’t wait for him to hear the show.
I’ll bet. All right. Thank you so much for your help.
Thank you, and thanks for calling. We really appreciate it. Congratulations on a year of marriage.
Yeah, mazel tov.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
That’s funny, right?
Yes, it is. He has some explaining to do. First of all, she’s leaning over to be sweet with him, and he’s like, whoa, that language. What? No. No. Make a mental note, dude, and handle that later if it needs to be handled at all.
Well, I think we better quit while we’re ahead. 877-929-9673. Email words@waywordradio.org. And talk to us about what your partner’s been up to on Twitter @wayword.
