Homonyms

I was riding the T in Boston today, reading Moll Flanders, when I had one of those heart-sinking moments.  The book described a woman as "hair-brained."  I read it and thought, "Oh boy, there's another word I've been screwing up for my whole life."  I've always thought it was "hare-brained", derived from the brain of a jackrabbit, dumb.  I'm not sure where the expression "hair-brained" would come from -- hair for brains?  Moll Flanders was written in 1722; one assumes it would be authentic in its use of English.  How have I been getting this wrong all my life?  I hate learning I've been misusing a word.  My favorite story about this is one of those friend-of-a-friend legends, where someone confused the word "phobia" and the word "fetish."  So she said things like, "ooh, a spider, yikes, that gives me the chills.  I have a kind of a spider fetish, you know."  She realized her mistake late in life and was mortified, thinking back to all the times she'd used the wrong word. 

I'm a bit intimidated by Moll Flanders.  Can't tell what to make of it yet. 

Comments

http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-hai1.htm

[A. Rickey]

FWIW, the OED gives uses of the word "hare-brain" back to 1550. However, it seems to imply that the term doesn't mean "dumb" so much as giddy or reckless.

It doesn't give an entry for "hair-brained." My guess is that it's a poetic attempt to make the woman sound dumb as opposed to reckless. But that's a guess.

[Butch]

'Hare' and 'Hair' both refer to the rabbit in this case.

from dictionary.com:

Foolish; flighty: a harebrained scheme.

Usage Note: The first use of harebrained dates to 1548. The spelling hairbrained also has a long history, going back to the 1500s when hair was a variant spelling of hare. The hair variant was preserved in Scotland into the 18th century, and as a result it is impossible to tell exactly when people began writing hairbrained in the belief that the word means “having a hair-sized brain” rather than “with no more sense than a hare.” While hairbrained continues to be used and confused, it should be avoided in favor of harebrained which has been established as the correct spelling.

[pam]

The thing about Moll Flanders is, the main character displays absolutely no conscience, so it's very tough to get a bead on her motivations. But a good read. I admire her utter pragmatism.