-25
A miser is someone who is infatuated with the past, and is grumpy about the present, so when did it come to mean someone who is a cheapskate and stingy over money? (lemmy.today)
submitted 2 months ago by to c/AskUSA@discuss.online
locked 39 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

A miser is someone who is infatuated with the past, and is grumpy about the present, (compared to depressive, or someone who is infatuated with the future, and depressed about the present), so when did it come to mean someone who is a cheapskate and stingy over money?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 5 points 2 months ago (31 children)

where are you getting your original definition?

miser /mī′zər/

### noun

1. One who lives very meagerly in order to hoard money. 
2. A greedy or avaricious person. 
3. A wretched person; a person afflicted by any great misfortune. 

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition • More at [Wordnik](https://www.wordnik.com/words/miser)
  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • hideshow 31 child comments
    •
  • [+] [S] -15 points 2 months ago (30 children)

    just because there is no equivalent word for miser in the Chinese language, as someone who infatuates over the past and grumpy about the present, doesn't mean the word does not exist in the English language.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 30 child comments
    •
  • [–] 6 points 2 months ago* (20 children)

    chinese? wtf are you talking about?

    I literally asked where your definition of miser is coming from. its not a definition ive heard before. how does china relate to that?!

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 20 child comments
    •
  • [+] [S] -13 points 2 months ago* (19 children)

    it feels like the English language has become simpler in vocabulary, like Chinese language, since 2017

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 19 child comments
    •
  • [–] 8 points 2 months ago (18 children)

    oh. youre just baiting. sorry for engaging with sincerity

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 18 child comments
    •
  • [+] [S] -13 points 2 months ago (17 children)

    what makes you think I'm baiting? I recommend you learning German or Japanese languages, or even Modern Hebrew (compared to Hebrew from the Roman era), rather than Chinese language.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 17 child comments
    •
  • [–] 4 points 2 months ago (4 children)

    It seems like you're baiting because we have never heard this definition before:

    A miser is someone who is infatuated with the past, and is grumpy about the present

    Did you get it from an AI chatbot?

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
    •
  • [+] [S] -7 points 2 months ago (3 children)

    "Miser is a grumpy person who lives in the past, instead of the present", was the definition people used in the US before 2016.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
    •
  • [–] 4 points 2 months ago (11 children)

    I dont want to get into a massive comment chain about basically nothing.

    1. You asked about the definition of miser, and provided an “original” or alternative definition
    2. I replied with a definition, and asked where you heard your definition.
    3. youve gone entirely off the rails talking about china and other countries.

    Engage with the discussion?

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 11 child comments
    •
  • [+] [S] -10 points 2 months ago (10 children)

    what's your question?

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 10 child comments
    •
  • [–] 4 points 2 months ago (9 children)

    where did you get the definition of “miser” from? because its wrong.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 9 child comments
    •
  • [+] [S] -9 points 2 months ago (8 children)

    “Miser is a grumpy person who lives in the past, instead of the present”, was the definition people used in the US before 2016.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 8 child comments
    •
  • [–] 4 points 2 months ago (7 children)

    I literally cited a dictionary. Ill assume youre being obtuse on purpose at this point, engaging in bad faith.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 7 child comments
    •
  • [+] [S] -9 points 2 months ago (6 children)

    cite a dictionary from before 2016, instead, that's not online

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 6 child comments
    •
  • [–] 4 points 2 months ago (5 children)

    ok good bye.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 5 child comments
    •
  • [+] [S] -7 points 2 months ago (4 children)

    the definition for miser somehow, and some when, changed from "grumpy person who lives in the past", to "someone stingy over money and is cheapskate".

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
    •
  • [–] 3 points 2 months ago (3 children)

    Yes. But where did you see this? what gave you that definition?

    Some vague memory is not valid.

    youve had your question answered. why are you arguing?

    The basis of your premise is factually wrong.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
    •
  • [+] [S] -8 points 2 months ago (2 children)

    just because 'the definition for miser somehow, and some when, changed from “grumpy person who lives in the past”, to “someone stingy over money and is cheapskate”' is not mentioned elsewhere, does not make it false.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 4 points 2 months ago (8 children)

    In English this would describe a traditionalist, or even just a conservative. Also, maybe a nostalgist...but that one is very rarely used.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 8 child comments
    •
  • [+] [S] -14 points 2 months ago (7 children)

    “Miser is a grumpy person who lives in the past, instead of the present”, was the definition people used in the US before 2016.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 7 child comments
    •
  • [–] 5 points 2 months ago (3 children)

    Yeah, no. Charles Dickens used the word to describe his character Ebenezer Scrooge as a greedy old penny-pincher, in A Christmas Carol. That book was written in the 1800's, and it was a commonly used word even then.

    The definition you're using, simply doesn't apply. That's not what that word has ever meant.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
    •
  • [–] 4 points 2 months ago (2 children)

    Upon what evidence do you make this assertion? It's always meant your "current" definition across my several decades of life.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •