A.Word.A.Day --corset

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Dec 16, 2024

This week’s theme
Words related to historical fashion

This week’s words
corset
tight-laced
bodice ripper
starchy
velvet glove

Photo: Julia Stack

Previous week’s theme
Back-formations

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

As a minimalist, I gravitate toward a simple T-shirt and a pair of pants. Yet, there’s something undeniably captivating about the artistry of historical fashion -- the intricate details, the history stitched into each piece.

My friend Julia likes to make elegant dresses from historical fashion that she wears to dances and events. She often says: “Vintage style, not vintage values,” reminding me that while the charm of the past is irresistible, the mindset doesn’t have to be.

This week, we’re unraveling the threads of language to explore how terms related to historical fashion have become part of our lexicon. These aren’t just words -- they’re metaphors dressed to impress, carrying stories from the past into the present. It’s going to be a frockin’ good time!

(We have featured other clothing terms that are used figuratively before. See here, here, and here.)

corset

PRONUNCIATION:

(KOR-sit/suht)

MEANING:

noun: A close-fitting undergarment, worn historically by women to shape the body and make the waistline smaller.
verb tr.: To confine, control, or regulate strictly.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Old French corset, diminutive of cors (body), from Latin corpus (body). Earliest documented use: 1299.

NOTES:

Corsets were a significant symbol of female beauty and societal constraints for centuries, often used to achieve an idealized hourglass figure. The term is now often used figuratively to describe anything that restricts or limits freedom.

USAGE:

“[Graduate training is] ... corsetted or even thwarted in specific institutional contexts.”
Andrew Colin Gow (ed.); Hyphenated Histories; Brill; 2007.

“And the Special Investigations Bureau ...[is] not corsetted by the usual decorum.”
Doug Anderson; Don’s the Dude; Sydney Morning Herald (Australia); Dec 1, 1997.

See more usage examples of corset in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

What religion a man shall have is a historical accident, quite as much as what language he shall speak. -George Santayana, philosopher (16 Dec 1863-1952)

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