civilian
civilian: sostantivo numerabile
The internet has opened avenues for scammers who are scanning around for such information from unsuspecting civilians.
Beloved by royals, celebrities and civilians alike, UK designer Aruna Seth creates lovely and timeless heels, wedges and flats.
They were not just dancers trying to be actors but apparently untrained civilians trying to be performers.
L’attrice inglese Elizabeth Hurley è assurta agli onori delle cronache per vari motivi, tra cui “vestire” i panni di Satana nel film del 2000 Indiavolato, essere stata fidanzata con Hugh Grant e aver presenziato con lui alla prima del film Quattro matrimoni e un funerale indossando un abito di Versace tenuto insieme da numerose spille da balia d’oro. Per noi, però, il nome di Liz Hurley resterà legato al fatto di aver sdoganato un nuovo – e oggi usatissimo – significato di una parola molto comune.
Trovare la citazione esatta è impossibile, ma pare che l’attrice stesse cercando un cavaliere che l’accompagnasse a una prima cinematografica e, riferendosi a chi non fa parte del mondo dello spettacolo, abbia usato il termine ‘civilian’
In inglese, civilian identifica coloro che non appartengono né alle forze armate né alle forze di polizia: d’accordo, il padre di Liz Hurley era un ufficiale dell’esercito, ma è sembrato decisamente fuori luogo che un’attrice e modella si paragonasse implicitamente a chi rischia la vita nello svolgimento delle proprie mansioni. Questo uso di civilian per riferirsi a chi non fa parte di una data professione, e quindi non può capirne problemi ed esigenze, è ormai diffusissimo.
Origini del termine
L’aggiunta di un nuovo significato per estensione è uno dei modi più comuni con cui si introducono nuovi sensi nella lingua inglese.
civilian: countable noun
The internet has opened avenues for scammers who are scanning around for such information from unsuspecting civilians.
Beloved by royals, celebrities and civilians alike, UK designer Aruna Seth creates lovely and timeless heels, wedges and flats.
They were not just dancers trying to be actors but apparently untrained civilians trying to be performers.
The British actress Elizabeth Hurley is famous for a number of things, including playing the devil, dating Hugh Grant, and appearing at the premiere of Four Weddings and a Funeral wearing a Versace dress held together by gold safety pins. Perhaps her most enduring claim to fame, however, will be the fact that she introduced a new meaning of a common word into general usage.
Although it is impossible to pin down the exact quote, Ms Hurley is alleged to have been casting around for a date to squire her to a movie premiere when she described non-showbiz people as ‘civilians’ who ‘don’t get the whole premiere thing’.
Generally speaking, of course, a civilian is someone who is not a member of the armed forces or the police. Ms Hurley is the daughter of an army major, but for a socialite, actress and model to implicitly compare herself to members of professions who regularly put their lives on the line in the course of their professional duty struck many as ironic. The use has caught on though, as a shorthand way of referring to anyone who is not a member of a particular profession or group and thus cannot be expected to understand its ways.
Origins
The addition of new extended meanings to existing words is one of the most common ways for new senses to be added to English.
