Evolution of a Word

 

On one of my other blogs [ sorryalltheclevernamesaretaken] I had written, on two different occasions - Trump : Are We Finally On "The Road to Understanding" ?  and  Oh, He's Such a Trump - my coming to learn of usage of the word "trump" as a positive, upbeat compliment. At one time, calling someone a trump meant that the person was a dependable and exemplary person.

My discovery came about after having read two novels written in 1917 - one written by Ethel M. Dell, The Hundredth Chance, and the other, The Road to Understanding, by Eleanor H. Porter.

In Chapter X (The Head of the Family) of The Hundredth Chance, after the character Jake helps his friend Bunny, we have this:

"You're no end of a trump!" said Bunny with tears in his eyes.

 In Chapter IX (A Bottle of Ink) of The Road to Understanding we find this:

"What a trump dad had been to offer it! What a trump he had been in the way he offered it, too! What a trump he had been all through about it, for that matter. Not a word of reproach, not a hint of patronage. Not even a look that could be construed into that hated 'I told you so.' Just a straight-forward offer of this check for Helen, and the trip for himself, and actually in a casual, matter-of-fact tone of voice as if ten-thousand-dollar checks and Alaskan trips were everyday occurrences".

The point I made in those two earlier posts was that in 1917, calling someone a "trump" was a good, positive compliment, while in 2017 calling someone a "trump" would be considered fightin' words to half the population of the United States.

My reason for bringing this up now is because of the book I am currently reading.  Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott. Like most men and boys, I stayed away from Alcott's work because, well, it was written for girls. I recently decided to read the novel because it's considered a "classic" and therefore I should get past my prejudices and read the book.

Not deep into the novel, I discovered Alcott's use of the word in question. It appears at least three times in the work.

"As she spoke, Amy showed the handsome flask which replaced the cheap one, and looked so earnest and humble in her little effort to forget herself that Meg hugged her on the spot, and Jo pronounced her 'a trump', while Beth ran to the window, and picked her finest rose to ornament the stately bottle."

" Three cheers for dear Father! Brooke was a trump to telegraph right off, and let us know the minute he was better......"

"Well, my love, I consider him a trump, in the fullest sense of that expressive word, but I do wish he was a little younger and a good deal richer."

Little Women was first published five years after the Civil War so the word has been used as a compliment, at least since then.