What is the meaning of ''put paid to niceties like gender'' in this excerpt? According to one theory, when the next wave of invaders, the Scandinavians, arrived, the Anglo-Saxons strove to converse w

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Magdalena

What is the meaning of ''put paid to niceties like gender'' in this excerpt? According to one theory, when the next wave of invaders, the Scandinavians, arrived, the Anglo-Saxons strove to converse with them in a simple ‘creolised’ English which put paid to niceties like gender. This picture of stumbling inter-racial dialogue has obvious charms, but Burchfield firmly squashes it. How the Anglo-Saxons lost their grammar is just another secret hidden in the pre-Edisonian silence. Thank you :)

Dec 13, 2018 7:20 PM

Answers · 8

put paid means to terminate or to cancel, so in this context it would be something like "...which ended niceties like gender." Hope this helps.

December 13, 2018

definition of a creole https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creole_language a language that eventually develops after a period of pidgeon conversation and interaction. a creole person is of mixed race heritage half European and half Black african especially in the caribbean or half Spanish and european especially in the caribbean

December 13, 2018

This is interesting because I've never heard put paid to before but...think of it like this Put paid to niceties like gender Put paid to: Cancel Niceties: A specific detail/observation of social behavior Like gender: Such as female - male behavior Put paid to niceties like gender - To cancel details of social behavior between men and women To cancel their differences or treat them equally in a grammatical or societal sense.

December 13, 2018

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