BBC News - Disgust: How did the word change so completely?

Originally "disgust" was used to express distaste for rotten food or filth. Today it's deployed against looters, phone hackers and others whose actions many find morally murky. So how did the meaning change so much?

Shakespeare was never disgusted. This was not a word at the Elizabethan playwright's disposal - it only entered the English language towards the end of his life.

He instead wrote of "gorge rising". Same emotion. Different phraseology.

Today the word disgust has replaced more visceral descriptions of revulsion and [...]

Full article at bbc.co.uk

 

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