"pretty" used as an adverb

Question

What is the etymology of "pretty" as adverb ?
"pretty good"
"pretty hot"
"pretty far"
"pretty difficult"
Is this usage derived from the corruption of the
French "pr=E8s de" during the 1066-1360 French occupation ?

Cheers, David H
~~

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]What is the etymology of "pretty" as adverb ? "pretty good" "pretty hot" "pretty far" "pretty difficult" Is this usage derived from the corruption of the French "pr=E8s de" during the 1066-1360 French occupation ?[/nq]
The OED suggests that the origin is now unclear. "The history has several points of obscurity . . . . After the OE period, the word is unknown till the 15th c., when it becomes all at once frequent in various senses, none identical with the OE, though derivable from it." The sense illustrated above, as an intensifier, is only one of several rather diverse ones that seem to have blossomed more or less simultaneously. But the implication is that all trace, by however ccrooked a way, back to OE usages.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]What is the etymology of "pretty" as adverb ? "pretty good" "pretty hot" "pretty far" "pretty difficult" Is this usage derived from the corruption of the French "pr=E8s de" during the 1066-1360 French occupation ?[/nq]
A total guess, with no data to back me up.
pretty quiet =3D fairly quiet
pretty =3D fair
GFH

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(Email Removed) skrev i meddelelsen
[nq:1]What is the etymology of "pretty" as adverb ? "pretty good" "pretty hot" "pretty far" "pretty difficult" Is this usage derived from the corruption of the French "près de" during the 1066-1360 French occupation ?[/nq]
A total guess, with no data to back me up.
pretty quiet = fairly quiet
pretty = fair
*The word "pretty" is used as nouns, adjectives and adverbs in English:

E.g. (on glass) fill it up to the pretty - pretties (fine underwear) - it cost him a pretty
e.g. adjectives: pretty kettle of fish - pretty (nice) girl - irony= a pretty fellow. - it cost a pretty penny
e.g. adverbs: that is pretty much the same - pretty well

We may have literal versus figurative meaning; the bare form has literal meaning, wehereas the form wiht -ly has figurative meaning:

pretty = colloquial, degree adverb =fairly: pretty good/old prettily = basic meaning: She sang pretily last night.

Some adverbs derives from different word classes, so this might be the reason for the use of the adverbs.
The short answer must be that pretty is a colloquial, degree adverb.

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[nq:2]What is the etymology of "pretty" as adverb ? "pretty ... the French "près de" during the 1066-1360 French occupation ?[/nq]
[nq:1]A total guess, with no data to back me up. pretty quiet = fairly quiet pretty = fair *The word ... the reason for the use of the adverbs. The short answer must be that pretty is a colloquial, degree adverb.[/nq]
The OED doesn't mark it as colloquial.
pretty, adv.
1. a. Qualifying an adjective or adverb: to a considerable extent;fairly, moderately; rather, quite. In later use also: very. N.E.D. (1908) has the following note: ?Sometimes expressing close approximation to quite, or by meiosis equivalent to very; at other times denoting a much slighter degree?. In more recent use, generally indicating a moderately high degree.
Kenneth G. Wilson in The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993:
http://www.bartleby.com/68/62/4762.html
As an adverb, pretty means ?fairly,? ?rather,? or ?somewhat,? as in a pretty long trip, two pretty miserable days, and from that sense it has drifted into use as a qualifier simply designed to prevent anyone from taking an adjective or another adverb full-strength: She had some pretty grim news. They?ll be here pretty soon. Grammatically it works like the intensifier very, although they are semantically different: compare a very bad cold and a pretty bad cold. This rather flabby use of pretty may have been the cause of some editors? preference for somewhat and rather as qualifiers, even though pretty is also Standard in this use.

Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.english.usage)

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"Peter Duncanson (BrE)" (Email Removed) skrev i meddelelsen
[nq:2]A total guess, with no data to back me up. ... answer must be that pretty is a colloquial, degree adverb.[/nq]
[nq:1]The OED doesn't mark it as colloquial.[/nq]
No, but my English grammarbook does! And Collins Cobuild has.

"There are a number of cases where adverbs have two forms, the bare adverb (without -ly) and a form with - ly, but they are used differently.
In some cases we find different meanings:
Hard: basic meaning: work hard, try harder. They have hit hard Hardly: =almost not: I could hardly believe it.
Just: exactly; a short time ago: She looks just like her mother. He has just told me.
Justly =basic meaning: They were justly treated.
We may have literal versus figurative meaning: the bare form has literal meaning, whereas the form with -ly has figurative meaning (as I wrote above) - and here follows some examples:
cheap/dear: literal sense, typically with the verbs buy and sell: Their motto is 'buy cheap and sell dear"
cheaply/dearly: cheaply dressed; love somebody dearly
pretty: collouial, degree adverb = fairly: pretty good/old prettily: basic meaning: She sang pretiliy last night"
It has also, a.o.:
"Finally, colloquial American English has a few forms without -ly:

awful: It was awful nice of him. British English has awfully real: It was real good. It would have been real bad news. The baby is real cute. British English has really.
good: It worked out good in the end. They fought real good. BrE has well."
[nq:1]pretty, adv. 1. a. Qualifying an adjective or adverb: to a considerable extent; fairly, moderately; rather, quite. In later use ... use, generally indicating a moderately high degree. Kenneth G. Wilson in The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993: http://www.bartleby.com/68/62/4762.html[/nq]
I have noticed that your quotation is from an American source. Why?
[nq:1]As an adverb, pretty means ?fairly,? ?rather,? or ?somewhat,? as in a pretty long trip, two pretty miserable days, and ... cause of some editors? preference for somewhat and rather as qualifiers, even though pretty is also Standard in this use.[/nq]
Well, I cannot contradict this, but I can refer to another dictionary: Collins Cobuild which uses "informal" instead of colloquial, which is the same.
3 You can use pretty before an adjective or adverb to mean `quite'or `rather'. (INFORMAL)
I had a pretty good idea what she was going to do... Pretty soon after my arrival I found lodgings.
ADV: ADV adj/adv
4 Pretty much or pretty well means `almost'. (INFORMAL)His new government looks pretty much like the old one...

and:
colloquial
Colloquial words and phrases are /informal/ and are used mainly in conversation.
...a colloquial expression...
So I think the grammar book is correct here, which doesn't mean that OAD is incorrect. It just doesn't have the whole picture in it, at least in this word, I think.
But I can also refer to another reputable source: English Dictionary, The Pinguin Dictionary, Penguin Reference:
Pretty: 2. informal /in a pretty manner/; prettily

Moreover: Middle English praty, prety artful, dainty, from Old English /prættig/ tricky, form /prætt/ trick. The Old English forerunner of pretty was a derogatory word meaning 'crafty'. But , reversing the semantic trend shown by /cunning, artful, and crafty, by the 15th cent. it meant 'clever' og 'ingenious' in a usually approbatory sense, and thus became a generalized term of approval. Its use as an adverb meaning 'rather' dates from the 16th century and has become so well established and seemingly independent of the adjectival sense that few people would hesitate to say /pretty awful/ or even /pretty ugly/
So all together I don't think I am totally wrong here - or what?

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Hi,
"Ulysses at Grasmere" (Email Removed) skrev i melding What is the etymology of "pretty" as adverb ?
"pretty good"
"pretty hot"
"pretty far"
"pretty difficult"
Is this usage derived from the corruption of the
French "près de" during the 1066-1360 French occupation ?

Cheers, David H
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From the Red Herring Department:
Why couldn't (some uses/variants of) "pretty" be derivatives of "precious" in the lation spelling (pretiosus) ?
AFAIK (which is not very far), "precious" is use from time to time in the same way as "rather",
which is why this thought came to mind.
( http://www.makersgallery.com/concrete/defs.html ).
T

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[nq:1]What is the etymology of "pretty" as adverb ? "pretty good" "pretty hot" "pretty far" "pretty difficult" Is this usage derived from the corruption of the French "pr=E8s de" during the 1066-1360 French occupation ? Cheers, David H ~~[/nq]
I've always wondered if it came from a corruption of 'petit', but purely a personal thought with no evidence whatsoever!

Surreyman

"pretty" used as an adverb

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