In recent days I have heard numerous discussions about the use of guns in the United States due to the mass school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. In some of these conversations, references have been made to the history of gun ownership in the US, and implications for the rights and freedoms of citizens. We have had similar exchanges in Canada about freedoms and privacy concerns. Often these debates make mention of a national storyline dealing with the issue. Such conversations need to be clear about the actual historical record. National myths are often cherished far too much to have mere facts besmirch them. Narratives can become so ingrained into the past account that even proven facts cannot change people’s minds and opinions about the fuzzy perceptions of yesteryear’s events. We don’t want our version of the story, even though possibly fantastical, besmirched.
Besmirch entered the English language in the early 1600s. The word means to cause damage to the purity, lustre, truth, or beauty of something. The prefix “be” is paired with the verb “smirch”. “Be” is added to emphasize the idea of making it so. Thus, be-smirch is to cause something to have a smirch.
The prefix “be” was common in the 16th and 17th centuries in forming words. History chronicles words like bethwack, to thrash soundly, and betongue, to scold. Many of these formations have not survived into the English we use today. But besmirch has persisted.
To smirch something is to stain it or make it dirty. One might say, “He smirched the floor with his muddy shoes.” Besmirch is equivalent or an intensive form of smirch. Eventually the word acquired the sense of bringing discredit or disgrace upon something.
Smirch may have derived from the French esmorcher meaning to torture or to stain. This comes from the Latin “es” [out] and mordere [to bite]. Thus, besmirch has connotations of taking a bite out of something clean or good and making it sullied or soiled.
We have William Shakespeare to thank for the variation in the use of smirch. He used the term in Hamlet ("And now no soil nor cautel doth besmirch the virtue of his will") and in Henry V ("Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirch'd with rainy marching in the painful field"). These are the first known appearances of besmirch in English.
Today we use besmirch to mean dishonour or tarnish, most often in a figurative sense, and largely in the idiom “to besmirch someone’s reputation.” This implies to do something to damage their public image or popularity.
The Eighth Commandment states, “Do not bear false witness against your neighbour.” We should not tell lies about others, slander or hurt a reputation, for doing so besmirches the character of our neighbours. As my mother used to remind me, “If you can’t say anything nice about someone, then don’t say anything at all.”
May we continue to choose our words wisely when talking about others, so we do not become guilty of besmirching the name of our neighbours and friends. Perhaps we might even consider such sentiments when we wax poetic about our politicians and all those in authority.
Columnist John Kreutzwieser loves to research words and writes this weekly Word Wisdom column for Moose Jaw Express/MooseJawToday.com. He has an interest in the usage, origin, and relevance of words for society today. Greek and Latin form the basis of many words, with ancient Hebrew shedding light on word usage.
John would like to know if anyone has a sincere interest in a relevant word that he could possibly research for an upcoming column. If so, please send your requests to wordwisdom2021@gmail.com . Words will be selected according to relevance and research criteria. We cannot confirm that all words will be used.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
