(no subject)

[jackofallgeeks]

So it once occured to me that it was odd that "aweful" means bad when "awe"
is a good sort of thing and "-ful" means it's full of it.
Today it occured to me that maybe "aweful" as we know it some how came from
the word "offal."
I should get back to work.

Comments

[dikaiosunh.livejournal.com]

Nope - same root. The old sense of "awful" is "inspiring fear or terror." It got to our use via the fact that fear and terror are bad. "Awe" used to mean not just good, but good in a way that inspired fear and trembling.