How prepositions can make us sound like old fogeys

Are you enamoured / enamored of something?
Enamoured / enamored by something?
Enamoured / enamored with something?
How about enamoured / enamored on something?

What preposition is correct after "enamoured / enamored"?

I know, you thought, "Well, definitely NOT "on"!" You may be surprised to learn that for the first three centuries or so after we borrowed this word from French, we English speakers were enamoured on people. Then, starting in about 1600, we became enamoured of people, and also of things.  

A much less frequent possibility was "enamoured with", so infrequent that the OED editors in 1891 declared it obsolete, although it wasn't.  "Enamoured with" burbled along for a couple of centuries, but then starting in the 1970s, began to stage a come-from-behind win on "of". (Keep scrolling after the chart, there's more.)


In the NOW corpus (6 billion words of online newspaper and magazine text starting in 2010), "enamo(u)red with" (1973 instances when I did the search) has pulled clearly ahead of  "enamo(u)red of" (1065 instances). This is confirmed by the Canadian Newsstream database of Canadian newspapers (2425 with vs 1166 of since 2010). Indeed, the late nineties seem to have been decisive in the onward march of with as you can see from this chart of yearly usages of "enamo(u)red with" in Canadian Newsstream starting in 1991.

We're not done yet with this preposition competition. Lurking on the horizon is "enamo(u)red by": 1289 instances on NOW, notably more than "enamo(u)red of", and 509 on Canadian Newsstream.

The Canadian Oxford Dictionary offers only "of" but if I were revising it today I would change that. Personally, I say "enamoured of" and there is certainly nothing wrong with that, but as time marches on I will probably start to sound like an old fogey. What am I saying, I probably already sound like an old fogey to Young People Today. At least I don't say "enamoured on"!

For another prepositional shift, and more evidence of the arbitrariness of prepositions, see This is exciting.

I will be offering my fun "Rollicking Story of English" course in downtown Toronto again this fall. Subscribe to Wordlady to make sure you can be first to sign up when I open registration in a couple of weeks.

To have fun facts about English delivered right to your inbox, click here to subscribe by email.  
Privacy policy: we will not sell, rent, or give your name or address to anyone. You can unsubscribe at any point.
  

This is exciting

I recently saw someone inveighing online against what they described as an "ugly, ugly" usage which they felt should be "stamped out".

Another website called this usage "an abomination". I'll let you contemplate the Oxford English Dictionary definition for "abomination" -- "a loathsome or wicked act or practice; a detestable vice" -- and let you decide whether this word should be bandied about quite as much as it is for language usages people don't like because they're different than (or is it "from"? or "to"?) theirs.

What was this hideous abomination?  

People saying they are "excited for", rather than "excited about" some upcoming event. 

(I am not talking about the usage "excited for someone" meaning "excited on someone's behalf".)

First off, if any of you can tell me objectively why the preposition "for" is "ugly" (let alone "ugly, ugly") as compared to the (presumably "beautiful"?) preposition "about", I will give you some sort of prize.

The prepositions that collocate with adjectives and verbs are fairly arbitrary, as anyone learning a second language quickly discovers. 

We are bored "with" but tired "of" things (although "bored of" is gaining, much to the dismay of many). We are interested "in" but fascinated "with/by" things. We hope "for" but look forward "to" future events. Now we are happy "about" things, but we used to be happy "at" things.

Second, I have to tell you, by the time you notice a new usage, it has already reached a critical mass where you can't do anything about it, even if it were desirable to do so.

I can't tell you exactly where "excited for" arose, but it is very common amongst people under 35, and appears to have been in use by them for at least the last 10 years. 

Date	2007
Publication information	Psychology Today: May/Jun 2007: . Vol. 40, Iss. 3; pg. 39, 2 pgs
Title	Folk Futurist
Author	Matthew Hutson (born ca. 1978)

Whether they're about being excited for an upcoming pizza party or the despair of a madman who's fallen for a woman, Coulton's songs hit home with musical sophistication and heartfelt sincerity

Date	2003
Publication information	Cambridge, MA : Candlewick Press,
Title	Feed
Author	Anderson, M. T.(born 1968)

Violet looked great in her low shirt, and besides that she was smiling, and really excited for her idea

.

Date	2009
Publication information	New York : Simon & Schuster
Title	This is how it starts
Author	Ginder, Grant. (b. ca. 1982)

 "Yes, sir," I say and take a sip of the champagne. "I'm very excited for the opportunity"

Date	2006
Publication information	Washington Post: 061115: SPORTS
Title	Campbell Gets Shot to Go From Idle to Idol
Author	Jason La Canfora, Washington Post Staff Writer

The Redskins are hoping that durability and elusiveness will aid their offensive line ..." I'm very excited for this, " guard Randy Thomas [born 1976] said. 

Date	2008
Title	CBCnews.ca 2008

Rachel Decoste [born ca. 1980], who organized the party as a fundraiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters Ottawa, said she was beside herself. " I'm just excited for the future, the future of America, the future of the world, and the future of people of colour, who now feel that they have a leader of the most powerful country in the world, " she said.

It may have arisen because of a perceived need to distinguish between excitement about something that one already has -- "I'm so excited about my new smartphone" -- and excitement about something that one is anticipating -- "I'm so excited for the ballet season", with the latter choice of preposition being influenced perhaps by the established phrasal verbs "hope/wish/long/yearn for". Once established, the distinction obviously proved useful, since it has spread. Perhaps some of the "excited for" users make negative comments about those who DON'T make the distinction!

Whatever the reason, the usage is here to stay, and people should save their opprobrium for real abominations.

In short, don't get excited about it.

P.S. If you find the English language fascinating, you might enjoy regular updates about English usage and word origins from Wordlady. Receive every new post delivered right to your inbox! If you are not already subscribed, you can either:

use the subscribe window at the top of this page

OR

(if you are reading this on a mobile device): send me an email with the subject line SUBSCRIBE at wordlady.barber@gmail.com

Privacy policy: we will not sell, rent, or give your name or address to anyone. You can unsubscribe at any point.