A cheeky investigation
Tracking the semantic change of cheeky from monkeys to wines
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20358151 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Laura R Bailey (0000-0003-3359-9630), Mercedes Durham (0000-0002-9819-0687) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 37 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 214-223 |
| Publication date | 2021-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | English Today (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0266-0784 • E-ISSN: 1474-0567 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0266078420000073 |
| OpenAlex | W3011465394 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 3 |
The present study focuses on the word cheeky which, in the past few decades, has taken on a new meaning of ‘mildly illicit’ in addition to, and partly overtaking, its original meaning of ‘impudent’. We examine how this semantic change is spreading in different age groups and in different parts of the English-speaking world. As we demonstrate, the newer meaning of cheeky is associated with younger speakers, so we examine whether this correlates with different age groups’ understanding of the new form. Furthermore, cheeky ‘impudent’ was used more frequently in the United Kingdom than in North America. If that earlier meaning was already marked for North America, how is the newer meaning cheeky ‘mildly illicit’ understood by speakers there
Linguistics · Original meaning · Lexicography and Language Studies · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Philosophy · Psychology · Spanish Linguistics and Language Studies
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2025 (2) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |