Define pest for me, would you?
Did you come up with something similar to "noxious or troublesome person or thing?" Or did you come up with "you (childish-snicker)?"
The first one is obviously the correct definition. The second is I'M RUBBER YOU'RE GLUE WHATEVER YOU SAY BOUNCES OFF ME AN...
Ahem. Anyway, you might be surprised to hear that this definition of pest goes back to the early 1600s. That's pretty old. So imagine I asked you to define "pester?" Okay, don't imagine I asked, I'm actually asking.
Did you come up with something like "to be a pest?" Excellent, you read around at least a fourth grade reading level. So that modern definition, let's see what that dates to, shall we? What do you guess? 1700s? 1650 wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility.
Oh. Hmm. "Pester (v): to annoy, trouble." First recorded in 1560.
Well, fine, the verb came first and the noun second. Seems reasonable. Oh wait, you say there's an earlier version of pest? 1550? Perfect! Let's read that definition. Surely it can't be too different from...
(in imprecations, "a pest upon ____,") "plague, pestilence."
Ah. Okay... It's kinda related. A plague is sort of like a pest... But is pestering someone akin to giving them the plague? That seems harsh. I'm glad it's toned down in the past few hundred years...
Pester (v): 1520s, "to clog, entangle, encumber."
Wait, what?
Oh, and it gets better. That last version of pester comes from a middle-French word that meant "to place in an embarrassing situation." Seems reasonable, until you realize that the French word came from a Latin slang word meaning "to hobble an animal" which in turn came from a Latin word that meant "herdsman." Know what that original Latin word was?
Pastor. Pester and pastor are originally more closely linked than pester and pest.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
So what's the origin of pest? Just so happens it's also Latin. Pestis (n): "deadly contagious disease; a curse, bane."
Fancy that. Pest is to pester as a deadly curse or plague is to your pastor. Good to know?
 |
| Thanks, Google! |
Did you come up with something similar to "noxious or troublesome person or thing?" Or did you come up with "you (childish-snicker)?"
The first one is obviously the correct definition. The second is I'M RUBBER YOU'RE GLUE WHATEVER YOU SAY BOUNCES OFF ME AN...
 |
| https://xkcd.com/1139/ |
Ahem. Anyway, you might be surprised to hear that this definition of pest goes back to the early 1600s. That's pretty old. So imagine I asked you to define "pester?" Okay, don't imagine I asked, I'm actually asking.
 |
| It's apparently the name of a plateau in Serbia. Thanks, Google! |
Did you come up with something like "to be a pest?" Excellent, you read around at least a fourth grade reading level. So that modern definition, let's see what that dates to, shall we? What do you guess? 1700s? 1650 wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility.
Oh. Hmm. "Pester (v): to annoy, trouble." First recorded in 1560.
Well, fine, the verb came first and the noun second. Seems reasonable. Oh wait, you say there's an earlier version of pest? 1550? Perfect! Let's read that definition. Surely it can't be too different from...
(in imprecations, "a pest upon ____,") "plague, pestilence."
 |
| NO GOOGLE! BAD GOOGLE! |
Ah. Okay... It's kinda related. A plague is sort of like a pest... But is pestering someone akin to giving them the plague? That seems harsh. I'm glad it's toned down in the past few hundred years...
Pester (v): 1520s, "to clog, entangle, encumber."
Wait, what?
Oh, and it gets better. That last version of pester comes from a middle-French word that meant "to place in an embarrassing situation." Seems reasonable, until you realize that the French word came from a Latin slang word meaning "to hobble an animal" which in turn came from a Latin word that meant "herdsman." Know what that original Latin word was?
Pastor. Pester and pastor are originally more closely linked than pester and pest.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
So what's the origin of pest? Just so happens it's also Latin. Pestis (n): "deadly contagious disease; a curse, bane."
Fancy that. Pest is to pester as a deadly curse or plague is to your pastor. Good to know?
 |
| Good to know. |
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