un·to·ward [uhn-tawrd, -tohrd]
1. unfavorable or unfortunate: Untoward circumstances forced him into bankruptcy.
2. improper: untoward social behavior.
3. Archaic. froward; perverse.
Origin:
1520–30; un + toward
"I wouldn't want anything untoward to happen to your Lego that you left on the floor."
When this word is used, the sentence always seems to be followed by a clearing of the throat. "Ahem." There is something unsaid or hinting about this word. Something taboo is afoot.
It is a Southern word that I remember my mother using quite frequently when I was a child. In fact, she once had a cold that was accompanied by a lot of that throat-clearing noise. I spent two weeks constantly on edge, trying to figure out what I had just done wrong. Ahem! Sorry... My hair was starting to thin by the time she recovered.
2 comments:
I need to incorporate this word into my everyday...
LOL!! Any sentence in this house that begins with "I don't suppose..." has the same connotation. "I don't suppose anyone cares what happens to this clothing I just found."
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