extual specialization.specializationword undertaker originally meant В«one who undertakes a task, especially one who is an entrepreneur В». This illustrates contextual specialization, where the meaning of a word is reshaped under pressure from another word that had frequently co-occured with it: thus undertaker acquired its meaning from constant use of the phrase funeral undertaker; eventually, under the pressure towards euphemism, the word funeral was dropped.example of contextual specialization is doctor, which originally meant В«a teacherВ» and then later В«an expertВ», where it came to be used in the phrase medical doctor; now of course this is redundant and medical is omitted, with the primary sense of doctor having become more specialized.Old Meaning В«entrepreneurВ» В«teacherВ» heard an American student at Cambridge University telling some English friends how he climbed over a locked gate to get into his college and tore his pants, and one of them asked, 'But, how could you tear your pants and not your trousers? Moss, В«British/American Language DictionaryВ» occur when the sense of a word expands and contracts, with the final focus of the meaning different from the original. For some reason, words describing clothing tend to shift meanings more frequently than other words, perhaps because fashion trends come and go, leaving words to seem as old fashioned as the clothing they describe. Who today wants to wear bloomers, knickers or pantaloons? Word pants has an interesting history. It's ultimate etymon is Old Italian Pantalone. In the 1600s, Italy developed commedia dell'arte, a style of comedy based on improvisation using stock characters. Pantalone was a stock character who was portrayed as a foolish old man wearing slippers and tight trousers. Through regular metyonmy, speakers of Old French borrowed his name to describe his Italian trousers. Their word was then borrowed into English as pantaloon, which in time was shortened to pants and came to mean trousers in general. British speakers of English have modified the meaning again to the sense of В«underpantsВ», resulting in the confusing situation described in Norman Moss 'quote above.like discarded laundry along the divide separating British and American English are quite a few words for clothing, as the following table shows.Meaning: English dialect jump: В«loose jacketВ»: В«pinaforeВ»: В«a light pulloverВ»: knickerbockers: В«breeches banded below kneeВ»: В«boy's baggy trousers banded below kneeВ»: В«bloomers, old-fashioned female underpants В»: pantaloon, from Old French pantalon:В« men's wide breeches extending from waist to ankle В»:В« trousers В»:В« underpants В»: suspend: (unchanged)В« straps to support trousers В»: (unchanged):В« garter В»: tight, adj.: (unchanged) В«snug, stretchable apparel worn from neck to toe; typically worn by dancers or acrobatsВ»: (unchanged): В«pantyhoseВ»: Old French veste It. Lat. vestis: В«clothingВ»: В«waistco...
