Learn English – How did the adjective “just” come to take on so many adverbial meanings

adverbsetymologyhistorical-changeusagezero-derivation

Just is a pretty useful adverb. It can carry several different meanings:

  • very recently: I just finished the novel.
  • exactly: That’s just what he meant.
  • by a narrow margin: He just missed me with the snowball.
  • only: Bob was just a dishwasher until he met George Lucas.
  • quite or very: The weather is just beautiful.
  • directly: Just west of here.
  • perhaps or possibly: Your plan just might work.

(With thanks to Dictionary.com and Merriam-Webster Online for these examples.)

There are also a variety of phrases using just, including just so and just about. I’m sure I haven’t covered everything here.

I’m curious about how we got all these adverbial senses of just. I checked the Online Etymology Dictionary for just and found this:

just (adv):

“merely, barely,” 1660s, from Middle English sense of “exactly, precisely, punctually” (c.1400), from just (adj.), and paralleling the adverbial use of French juste. Just-so story first attested 1902 in Kipling, from the expression just so “exactly that, in that very way” (1751).

How the heck did the adjective just spawn such diverse adverbial meanings?

Best Answer

You'll probably be disappointed, but the adverb does not have so many different meanings: words that express a general idea take (apparently) different meanings in different contexts.

Take for example long : it mean 'extended' and has a different meaning if you refer it to time or to space.

just expresses the general idea of

  • exactly/ neither more nor less,

"It is impossible to say just what I mean!" (T.S. Eliot) or, more loosely,

  • closely, and it may be referred to

space :

"...They had been standing just by the door..." (Thomas Hardy)

quantity:

  • a little more/less than or
    • not much more than (from which you get the impression it has changed meaning to only/ barely) :

"It is ridiculous to think you can spend your entire life with just one person" (The Observer), ( "Bob was just a dishwasher until he met George Lucas").

time:

  • then, or
    • a little earlier/ later than..

"Alice was just asking Noel... when she heard..." (E. Nesbit), "I think I have just swallowed..." (I. Murdoch), "Tell his excellency I am just a coming" (D. Defoe)

It is as simple as that!

(the examples are from SOED)

You've indicated three general meanings that might apply to some, but not all, of the more specific meanings I listed in the initial question (how to account for "possibly," "quite or very," and "directly"?). Also, I find it interesting that two of the general ideas you've indicated contradict each other: "neither more nor less" and "a little more or less." That's worth a question in and of itself. So, yeah, a little disappointed. – Rusty Tuba

I have indicated just one meaning, if you reflect just a bit, you'll see no contradiction between exactly (neither more nor less, quite,.. etc) and almost exactly (a little more/less... etc), it is only approximation, which is a natural feature of language. Bearing this in mind, you'll be able to clarify all other optical illusions. I didn't list all possibilities because it is not a closed list.

Related Topic