Is Ugly an ugly word?

[Progenitor A]

Just reading the admirable Charles Moore in Spectator.

He recalls a list of hunting Hounds names from the 1900's - one of them is Ugly

Something about that name pleased me


It is very Englsh (with Teutonc overtones [undertones?]} that so fashion the English language

It starts with the onomatopoeiac 'UGH' which is our immediate (if suppressed)reaction to the truly ugly (unrepressed if it is working class Englishmen expressing their views on immigration]

That PART is (presumably) the German fraction of the word

Then comes the very English, cucumber-sandwich-at-the-village-fete excusative finale - 'leee' as if to apologise for the vulgar intrusion of the uninvited cousin, whilst admitting he may, in his crass, blundering Tuetonic fashion have a point

Altogeher the'Ugh' and 'lee' serve their purpose beautifully

They together express distase modified by good taste

The very best of Englishness

Not an ugly word at all

[fascinating]

I looked it up and I'm told that it derives from Old Norse "ugga" the verb "to dread" and "uggligr" (don't ask me how it's pronounced) = "to be dreaded".

[alancalverd]

When driving foreign visitors through Essex, it's worth a diversion through Ugley ("Ug's field"). Stop at the village hall that proudly hosts the Ugley Women's Institute, and respect the self-deprecation that typifies British humor. Americans just don't get it, but Swedes think it is hilarious. WI jam "made by Ugley women" surely deserves an appelation controlee.

[fascinating]

Having thought about it, I don't like the word. "Ug" is, stereotypically, one of the noises that cavemen are said to have made. It may well have begin as a kind of visceral vocalism at seeing something horrible, but as a word, or basis for the word I don't like it, basically because what is ugly is largely a matter of personal preference. Just saying "that's ugly" doesn't communicate much, it doesn't say the reason the viewer finds it so. I like the words of a more sophisticated civilisation. In Latin, the meaning "ugly" is conveyed by one or more of several words: "deformis" - disfigured, "turpis" - filthy, "informis" - shapeless, "pravus" - crooked, "indecorus" - indecent, "foedus" - foul, "inhonestus" - disgraceful, "malus" - bad or harmful.

[jean]

...The Mock Turtle went on.

'We had the best of educations — in fact, we went to school every day — '

'I've been to a day-school, too,' said Alice; 'you needn't be so proud as all that.'

'With extras?' asked the Mock Turtle a little anxiously.

'Yes,' said Alice, 'we learned French and music.'

'And washing?' said the Mock Turtle.

'Certainly not!' said Alice indignantly.

'Ah! then yours wasn't a really good school,' said the Mock Turtle in a tone of great relief. 'Now at ours they had at the end of the bill, "French, music, and washing — extra."'

'You couldn't have wanted it much,' said Alice; 'living at the bottom of the sea.'

'I couldn't afford to learn it.' said the Mock Turtle with a sigh. 'I only took the regular course.'

'What was that?' inquired Alice.

'Reeling and Writhing, of course, to begin with,' the Mock Turtle replied; 'and then the different branches of Arithmetic — Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision.'

'I never heard of "Uglification," Alice ventured to say. 'What is it?'

The Gryphon lifted up both its paws in surprise. 'What! Never heard of uglifying!' it exclaimed. 'You know what to beautify is, I suppose?'

'Yes,' said Alice doubtfully: 'it means — to — make — anything — prettier.'

'Well, then,' the Gryphon went on, 'if you don't know what to uglify is, you are a simpleton.'

Alice did not feel encouraged to ask any more questions about it...