What’s crazy is “Fred” used to mean the exact, literal opposite. It’s the only word I know of that has come to mean the full opposite of what it meant (except maybe “literally”, but that’s usually used for emphasis)
Fred used to mean the dude who showed up in jeanshorts on a huffy, who everyone was like “are you sure you want to join the group ride?”, and then he ends up pulling the pack the whole way. Somewhere along the line it ended up meaning dentist, which is the slow dude who buys all the expensive gear. I literally don’t understand it.
It’s the only word I know of that has come to mean the full opposite of what it meant
“Terrific” is one of those. It used to mean terrifying, but it means awesome now. “Awful” is another, it used to mean awe-inspiring instead of terrible.
In cycling, this person is called Fred or sometimes Dentist.
What’s crazy is “Fred” used to mean the exact, literal opposite. It’s the only word I know of that has come to mean the full opposite of what it meant (except maybe “literally”, but that’s usually used for emphasis)
Fred used to mean the dude who showed up in jeanshorts on a huffy, who everyone was like “are you sure you want to join the group ride?”, and then he ends up pulling the pack the whole way. Somewhere along the line it ended up meaning dentist, which is the slow dude who buys all the expensive gear. I literally don’t understand it.
“Terrific” is one of those. It used to mean terrifying, but it means awesome now. “Awful” is another, it used to mean awe-inspiring instead of terrible.