from the notebooks of craig swanson
A milliner makes or sells ladies hats. The name probably comes from the obsolete word Milaner, for a native of Milan. Its usage dates back to 1530, when the British were getting some of their finer fashions from Milan. I got this information from the Oxford English Dictionary. We’ll have to take their word for it. They are word experts after all.
Expert. Where does this word come from? Obviously, it involves the roots ex for ‘not’ and pert for ‘impudently bold.’ Does this mean that the experts at the OED were once bold about words, but are no longer? If so, then why should I take advice from weak-kneed meaning-mongers?
I can come up with my own etymologies, thank you very much.
For example, I notice that the OED includes the word ner, which they define as an archaic use of the word nor. I suggest that milli-ner meant a thousandth (milli-) of a ner, as in “Neither this chicken, milli-ner that duck.” In other words: “It’s definitely not the chicken, but there is a thousand to one chance that it might not be the duck either.” Not a very strong statement.
In fact, people who frequently used milli-ner in their speech (I propose) came to be known for their lack of boldness, lack of pert, lack of enthusiastic flair or élan. A person who wanted to sell fashionable ladies’ hats might have done well to have such a personality - especially when dealing with wealthy, upper class clients who would required you to be agreeable to the point of obsequiessence. Hence, they were dubbed Milliners.
Okay, my theory isn’t perfect. I’m still trying to work out why this word was ascribed to hat sellers as opposed to some other weak-kneed folk, like, say etymologists. Perhaps these word experts have more gumption than I gave them credit for. I’ll have to test this out the next time I meet one. I’ll walk up to him, humbly take my hat in my hand, point to his spirit and ask, “Is that your fine élan, sir?”
- April 2001
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