Today’s word of the day, courtesy of the Word Guru daily email, is beguile. Pronounced / bɪˈgaɪl /, this verb means “to influence by trickery, flattery, etc.; mislead; delude,” “to take away from by cheating or deceiving (usually followed byof ),” “to take away from by cheating or deceiving (usually followed by of),” or “o pass (time) pleasantly” (https://www.dictionary.com/browse/beguile). Samuel Johnson included it in his 1755 Dictionary, and his first definition was “To impose upon; to delude; to cheat” (https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=beguile).

Etymonline.com gives the definition of “’delude by artifice’” and says that it is from the “early 13c., from be- + guile (v.). The meaning ‘entertain with pastimes’ is by 1580s (compare the sense evolution of amuse)” (https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=beguile).

The be- part is a “word-forming element of verbs and nouns from verbs, with a wide range of meaning: ‘about, around; thoroughly, completely; to make, cause, seem; to provide with; at, on, to, for;’ from Old English be- ‘about, around, on all sides’ (the unstressed form of bi ‘by;’ see by (prep.)). The form has remained by- in stressed positions and in some more modern formations (bygones, bystander); in bylaw it is a different word. The Old English prefix also was used to make transitive verbs and as a privative prefix (as in behead). The sense ‘on all sides, all about’ naturally grew to include intensive uses (as in bespatter ‘spatter about,’ therefore ‘spatter very much,’ besprinkle, etc.). Be- also can be causative, or have just about any sense required. The prefix was productive 16c.-17c. in forming useful words, many of which have not survived, such as bethwack ‘to thrash soundly’ (1550s) and betongue ‘to assail in speech, to scold’ (1630s)” (https://www.etymonline.com/word/be-). In linguistics, when we say that something is “productive,” we mean that we “use a particular grammatical process, especially in word formation” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Productivity_(linguistics)). The be- prefix is no longer productive in word formation, though it might be interesting if it were: “I was bescammed!” And I think it would be fun to hear a baseball announcer say, “That ball was really bethwacked!”

Guile, on the other hand, is from the “mid-12c., from Old French guile ‘deceit, wile, fraud, ruse, trickery,’ probably from Frankish *wigila ‘trick, ruse’ or a related Germanic source; according to Watkins, from Proto-Germanic *wih-l- (source also of Old Frisian wigila ‘sorcery, witchcraft,’ Old English wig ‘idol,’ Gothic weihs ‘holy,’ German weihen ‘consecrate’), from PIE root *weik- (2) ‘consecrated, holy’” (https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=guile).

Merriam-Webster writes about beguile, “A number of English words have traveled a rather curious path from meanings related to deception or trickery to something less unwelcome. A prime example is beguile, which first appeared in English around the 13th century with the meaning ‘to lead or draw by deception.’ For the next several centuries, most of the senses of the verb had to do, in one manner or another, with deceiving. Around the time of Shakespeare, however, a more appealing sense charmed its way into the English language and hasn’t left since: ‘to attract or interest someone,’ or in other words, ‘to charm.’ Nowadays, you’re just as likely to hear beguile applied to someone who woos an audience with charisma, as to a wily trickster who hoodwinks others to get their way” (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beguile). This process of a word’s going from a more negative meaning to a less negative or more positive meaning is called amelioration.

On Christmas Day in 1940, a Broadway musical by Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart, with a book by John O’Hara, opened in the Ethel Merman Theater. It was called Pal Joey, and it starred Gene Kelly, Vivienne Segal, June Havoc, Stanley Donen, and Van Johnson (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pal_Joey_(musical)). It ran for 10 months, and later had numerous successful revivals and a 1957 film version with Frank Sinatra.

It’s an odd little show. The theater critic Brooks Anderson wrote of it, “If it is possible to make an entertaining musical comedy out of an odious story, Pal Joey is it. John O’Hara has written a joyless book about a sulky assignation. Under George Abbott‘s direction some of the best workmen on Broadway have fitted it out with smart embellishments. Pal Joey offers everything but a good time, whether Joey is a punk or a heel is something worth more careful thinking than time permits. Although Pal Joey is expertly done, can you draw sweet water from a foul well?” (ibid.). Of course, it’s not the only sordid story turned into a Broadway musical; Carousel is one.

Perhaps because of the sordid nature of the story, the songs from the show were banned from the radio for a while in the 1940s, but eventually one of those songs became a bit hit. The first act song “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered,” “remains one of Rodgers & Hart’s most enduring songs. Sophisticated, rueful and a bit naughty, ‘Bewitched’ presents a vivid portrait of a seasoned adult confounded by the turbulence of new love. Lorenz Hart wrote so many lyrics for the song and its reprises that seemingly no two recordings use exactly the same words” (https://rodgersandhammerstein.com/song/pal-joey/bewitched-bothered-and-bewildered/).

“In June of 1950, six different recordings of “Bewitched” made the Top 20 list of most-played records on the radio. These recordings were by Doris Day, Mel Tormé and the Pete Rugolo Orchestra, Gordon Jenkins and His Orchestra, Jan August and Jerry Murad’s Harmonicats, Bill Snyder, Roy Ross and His Orchestra, and Larry Green. In addition, Billboard reported that ‘Bewitched’ was the best-selling sheet music for the week ending May 26, 1950. The song has since been covered by a host of singers, including Celine Dion, Frank Sinatra, Sinead O’Connor, Barbra Streisand, Ella Fitzgerald and Lady Gaga; Rod Stewart and Cher released a duet version in 2003” (ibid.).

So here’s the chorus from the song, with a link to it if you want to listen:

I’m wild again!
Beguiled again!
A simpering, whimpering child again!
Bewitched, bothered and bewildered am I.

Today’s image is from the 1940 production of Pal Joey, starring Gene Kelly and Vivienne Segal (https://rodgersandhammerstein.com/stills/pal-joey-1940-broadway/).