All In The Family Episode: Mike Comes Into Money

When "All In The Family" first aired on the CBS television network in January of 1971, it was the talk of the nation. The show, developed by producer Norman Lear, dared depict our prejudices, bigotries and hatreds right to our faces, but usually with a comedic twist. The basic format of the show was of middle aged Archie Bunker, a working class white man living in the Queens section of New York City, along with his wife Edith, their daughter Gloria, and Gloria's husband Mike, usually called "Michael" by Gloria. The living arrangement is that Gloria and Mike get room and board while Mike attends college, but the young couple's other expenses must be paid for by themselves, and they must pay for the room and board, plus interest, after Mike gets his college degree and begins earning a living. This "agreement" is not always set in concrete and it proves to be periodically contentious, especially so in this episode. Further, the young liberal couple living with a middle aged couple is far from peaceful, as Archie is set in his ways on a number of things, and he doesn't see the contradictions he holds regarding other aspects of life. For instance, Archie would use "hell" or "damn" at times when arguing a point, but he tells others not to swear in the house.*
  
This episode is one I've remembered for all of the years since it was first telecast prior to the presidential election in 1972 (Nixon vs. McGovern). Of course, I got some "refresher" help with the reruns of "All In The Family" in the decades since those times. This episode has some truly funny lines, at least from the standpoint of my type of humor, but it also made some more serious points. 

Cast:

Archie Bunker ............................Carroll O'Connor
Edith Bunker .............................. Jean Stapleton
Gloria (Bunker) Stivic ...............Sally Struthers
Michael/Mike Stivic .................. Rob Reiner

The episode opens with Edith reading the draft of what is supposed to be a funny story to Gloria. She wants Gloria to help refine the story so she can submit it to Reader's Digest for a chance to make $100, a decent sum of money in 1972, and equivalent to about $600 today. Edith's story isn't very funny, but Archie and Mike arrive home with raised voices as they argue about pollution. Things settle down from that argument only to have Archie open the water bill and declare, "Lucky me, I've got the only Polack who showers regularly."** Mike reaches into his pocket and pulls out a dime, which he offers to Archie. Archie responds by saying, " That dime ain't gonna pay for all your showers," and Mike replies, "No, but it'll pay for yours." Hahaha!

Mike opens a piece of mail, only to read that an uncle has died, but that he's left Mike $275. This prompts Archie to ask for $200 of the sum as a partial payment on what Mike owes him for more than two years' room and board. Mike says this goes against the agreement he and Archie made that defers Mike paying on the debt he owes Archie until after he graduates and gets a job. Then comes the equivalent to a sock in the jaw to Archie. Mike tells him he plans to donate the $200 to the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern. Archie is furious, but Mike tries to explain that he's trying to defend democracy, because the Democrats have virtually no money, while the Republicans have 30 million dollars available to them (equivalent to more than $175 million in today's value). Mike says that "it's like politics in America is only for the rich," and this brings the question from Archie, "Who's been feeding you that Commie crapola?" Mike replies, "President Eisenhower" (he was a Republican president during the 1950s). Archie screams, "He did not! Eisenhower was a great president who never said nuthin'." Hahaha  Gloria then adds, "He (Eisenhower) did too, Daddy. Eisenhower made that statement in 1968, I saw it in the Reader's Digest." This brings Edith to interject, "Oh! I wonder if they paid him $100 for it?" Hahahaha! Archie forbids Edith to do any more cooking for Mike and Gloria, until Mike starts "chipping in;" so, dinner times are now divided for the family.

The scene shifts to two weeks later, which is election day. Gloria, who has had a job since before Mike's inheritance and the resulting argument with Archie, comes home and rushes to fix supper for Mike and herself. In the process, Gloria is in so much of a hurry, she turns the oven up to 500 degrees, not knowing that Edith has rolls baking for Archie's dinner. The rolls are burned and Edith and Gloria quarrel over the whole situation. The argument brings Archie into the kitchen to say, "What's all the hollerin' out here? For a minute I thought I was in the back room of a Greek restaurant." He goes to Gloria, who asks him if he cares that she and her mother have just had this argument. He answers, "Sure I care. I told yous to shut up, didn't I?" Hahaha!

Archie tells his daughter that it's all Mike's fault, that Mike didn't do the right thing about the $200. She answers that fathers often make sacrifices for their kids and that even when Archie helps Mike, he is also helping her and that this is helping her to be better off than himself, and that every father wants his child to be better off than himself. Archie gives the hilarious reply, "That don't always work that way, little girl... Take a look at your animal kingdom for example there. Take the gorilla. Well the gorilla wants his kid to grow up better than him too, but the kid grows up, and there he is, still a gorilla." Hahahaha!

Mike comes home and sees the stew Edith has prepared for Archie's supper. Archie quickly points the way to the kitchen for Mike to get his own food. Mike goes into the kitchen and Gloria and Mike discuss how Mike has been working after college each day to earn $200 to give to Archie, but they have told Archie and Edith that Mike's been at the library studying. So far Mike has made $150. Mike asks Gloria what's for dinner. She answers, "Hamburgers," bringing Mike's reply of, "Again? I don't want them every night." Gloria then says, "Last night I made you meatloaf." Mike answers, "Gloria, meatloaf IS hamburger. It's the same thing with another name." The two have a brief exchange, and Mike says to Gloria that her father is "stupid" and "pig-headed." Gloria gives an interesting response: "Hold it, don't you call my father names just because you had a fight with him, that's not fair. And maybe we're not being fair. Maybe we should look at things from his point of view...... Michael, there are two sides to everything. Remember, it's not only that you didn't give Daddy the money, but you gave it to somebody he's dead against... I haven't been home more than ten minutes and I've already had a fight with my father and my mother and now you." Mike says, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to," but Gloria cuts him off with, "Oh shut up and eat your meatloaf," to which Mike says, "It's hamburgers," bringing Gloria to shout, "It's the same thing!" hahahaha!

Meanwhile, Archie and Edith eat their dinner and discuss the argument between Mike and Gloria. Edith tries quoting an old saying, but mangles it badly, causing Archie to say, "I've got an old saying for you, Edith. A bird that always flies in a fog is called a dingbat." *** Mike and Gloria come out of the kitchen and get ready to watch the election returns, but Archie won't allow it, so Mike tells Gloria that they can go to McGovern's local campaign headquarters to watch the returns. This brings Archie to say, "That's right, you've got $200 of TV watchin' comin' to you there." Mike gets angry and takes the $150 from his pocket and gives it to Archie. Gloria explains to her father about how Mike has been working to get this money together. Mike tells Archie that just as he got this money, that he'll get Archie every nickel he owes him. Never one to be appreciative or to give out compliments, Archie wants to know when he'll get the remaining $50 of THIS money.    

* While "hell" or "damn" wouldn't even move the needle on modern network television, in those times, they were about as strong a couple of words that were allowed on television. For those of you who didn't live through that era, there were no true cable channels in those days where "strong language" was essentially permitted.

** Of course today, I can't imagine that word being used on network television. Since I grew up in a neighborhood that included a fairly large number of people of Polish background, including quite a number of actual Polish immigrants, the word was common there, and it was not uncommon for people of Polish descent to use it, although some Polish people took offense to it, as it wasn't so much the word, but the context of the word's usage that was derogatory. Certainly Archie Bunker's derogatory use of the word (in more than in just this episode) went a long way to making the word taboo on television and in every day society.

*** The word "dingbat" became so popular from Archie's use of it for Edith, that wherever you went back in those times, you were apt to hear someone called a "dingbat," and that's just what you'd hear people call me. Hm, I never have figured that out ....    

Photo is of the 2004 Sony Pictures Home Entertainment "All In The Family: Season Three" DVD set

WORD HISTORY:
Burgess-This is one of those words with a base from Germanic in a non Germanic language, which then developed its own offshoot and meaning, and which was then borrowed by English. It is related to "bourgeoisie," a word borrowed by English from French, and it is related to "berg" and to "burg(h)" (thus, "borough"), words from the Germanic roots of English. "Burgess" goes back to Indo European "buhrgh/bhrgh" which meant "high place." This gave Old Germanic "burg(s)," meaning, "castle, fortress, protected place or stronghold," since most castles were built on high places for their military benefit. Since these provided protection, many people came to live in such places, and as time passed, the name remained, but many of of stronghold characteristics began to disappear. English had forms of the word from Old Germanic as "burg," "burh" and "burgh," which brought the development of the compounds "burgleoda" and "burgsittend," both of which meant "citizen, resident" (English eventually borrowed Latin-derived "citizen" from French). Meanwhile, Old French had a form of the Germanic word either passed to it from Latin "burgensis" (which had borrowed it from Germanic initially as "burgus"), which meant, "citizen/resident of a walled town," or French directly borrowed the word from Frankish, a Germanic language/dialect; the French form back then being "burjois," again with the "citizen/resident" meaning. The form carted to England by the Normans was (or shortly became?) "burgeis," and English borrowed that form in the early 1200s, before the modern form. By circa 1500 it was used for a member of Parliament who represented a "borough" (the close relative of "burgess"). In 1600's Colonial America, the lower house of the Virginia legislative body was called the "House of Burgesses." It has also been used in some places for other local legal authorities (magistrates).  

Trump & All in the Family

Note: This was written during the Republican primaries in March 2016


The 1970s saw the airing of a television series unlike any other seen up to that time. The series was "All in the Family," and it showed us ourselves complete with bigotry, fears, prejudices, racism, and all, but usually in a lighthearted, comedic way. Unlike the later "political correctness police," who wagged fingers in faces, or yelled and screamed in an apparent attempt to humiliate those deemed to have violated their codes (thus often so angering people, as to lose them forever), "All in the Family" usually got in your face in a funny way. We saw how silly some of our fears and prejudices were, but without anyone ever leaping through the television screen with index finger pointed at us.

So .... what does all of this have to do with Donald Trump? Well, when Trump began his campaign for president, I thought he was blatantly showing us how bigoted, fearful, prejudiced, and racist many of us still are. Some of his statements were things we might well have heard uttered by one Archie Bunker, the main character in "All in the Family" all of those years ago.* At times Trump seemed to smirk when making his pronouncements, making me wonder if indeed he was thinking, "What a bunch of dingbats we have voting in this country."** The thing is, I no longer think he was doing an Archie Bunker imitation to show us our flaws, but rather he was deliberately stoking the fires of bigotry and racism in a bunch of Archie Bunkers in the country for his own self interest. Trump has been compared to Hitler, but my use of Hitler here is not "necessarily" intended as such, for if I were going to refer to Hitler in some comparative way, I'd be writing about Ted Cruz. Anyway, what Trump really thinks is unknown to me, for as I said, he seems to use derogatory and inflammatory language for his own ends. Once seemingly many Germans thought the same about Hitler; that he used bigotry and racism to further his political career, but that he didn't mean it. Germans and the rest of the world found out something though, HE MEANT IT! While I've sort of given Trump the benefit of the doubt so far about using bigotry and racism, I'd rather NOT find out if he means it.   

* Archie Bunker was played to the hilt by actor Carroll O'Connor.  

** For those unaware, "dingbat" was what Archie called his often slow on the uptake wife, Edith.

WORD HISTORY:
Bee-For such a common word throughout the Germanic languages, with relatives in other Indo European languages too, the history is a bit sketchy. It "seems" to go back to an Indo European form "bhi," with a notion of "shaking, quivering," or perhaps, "humming, buzzing." This gave Old Germanic a form of something like, "bion," which was applied as the name for the "buzzing" ("humming," "quivering") insect. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "beo," which then became "bee," where it has remained for centuries. The other Germanic languages have: German "Biene," Low German Saxon "Bee," Dutch and West Frisian "bij," Danish and Swedish "bi," Norwegian "bie," and Icelandic "býfluga" (literally "bee fly").

Jean Stapleton Was No Dingbat

I wrote this when Jean Stapleton passed away in 2013.

Jean Stapleton and her "Edith" character have both been national treasures. The Ediths of the world make it a better place, as they deal with the difficult people around them and as they try to do the right thing, even when it hurts, often making the plotters and schemers uncomfortable. While her television husband Archie touted himself as a Christian, Edith was the practicing Christian, always trying to be a calming influence on her angry, bigoted, temperamental husband, who called her a "dingbat." While Archie blustered and lashed out at the changing world around him, Edith played the understanding wife.

Jean Stapleton passed away May 31, 2013 at the age of 90. Nothing I write here could possibly do justice to what others have written or said about her. She gave us some delightful and hilarious moments in the 1970s, as well as some solemn ones too. R.I.P. Jean Stapleton, we'll miss you.

NOTE: I did an article in 2012 about "All In The Family," so for those interested: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2012/04/archie-bunker-lives-on.html 

 Photo of Jean Stapleton from the 1977 Tony Awards which was televised on the ABC network. (Photo is a public domain photo taken from Wikipdia)

WORD HISTORY:
Bat-This is the noun for the flying mammal. The "bat," as in "baseball bat," is likely not the same word, or even related, although the origins of "bat, the animal," are uncertain. English seems to have borrowed it from a dialect of Old Norse, which had "blaka, bakka," as forms with the meaning "flapper." At least "bakka" quite obviously came to be applied to the mammal, but in compounds like Swedish "nat(t)bakka" (night bat). Where Old Norse, from the North Germanic branch of Germanic (English is from the West Germanic branch), got the term is also unclear, as it seems to only appear in North Germanic, except that English borrowed it. With Old Norse speaking settlements in England, mainly in the north and east, the word seems to have taken quite some time to finally become the main word for "the flying mammal," and by that time the pronunciation had changed the "k" sound to "t." The original English word for "bat" was "hreremus," which then became "reremouse" and "rearmouse," with the literal meaning being more or less "flapping/fluttering mouse." (I've previously covered "mouse" and I'll be covering "rere/rear" soon). I can't be certain, but I seem to remember hearing "rearmouse" even used by some old timers when I was a kid, right after the Spanish-American War (I stole your punchline), but I'm far from certain about that. Anyway, "bat" finally became the standard English word like in the late 1500s or early 1600s, but "rearmouse" did remain in use as a dialect word. German has "Fledermaus" (pronounced much like "flayder-mouse"), also the name of a famous operetta by Johann Strauss, again pretty much "flutter(ing) mouse."

It's About Coalitions Not Purity, Part Six

First published in September 2012, but slight edit/clarification added August 20, 2017


As noted in the previous segments to this series, during the Great Depression, Democrats assembled a coalition which kept their general philosophy the dominant one for decades. But the coalition was so varied, it is amazing that it held together for so long. Black Americans abandoned the Republican Party for the Democratic Party in the election of 1936 (incumbent Democrat Franklin Roosevelt vs. Republican Alfred Landon), where they have remained ever since. White, often "ethnic,"* workers, both union and non union, previously had often supported Republicans, especially during the Teddy Roosevelt era, but also because of  Republican support for high tariffs on imported goods from the Civil War era clear up until the beginning of the Great Depression. Democrats, on the other hand, tended to favor lower tariffs in those times.** The Great Depression brought such calamity to American industry (a nearly 50% decline by 1933!!!), and also generally overseas, that tariffs became less of an issue, and thus far less of a political advantage to Republicans. Unemployment, the depressed economy and fairer distribution of income took center stage with all workers, union and non union. Franklin Roosevelt and many Democrats and progressive Republicans clearly favored helping workers and unions, in general, and workers shifted to the Democratic Party in droves. The era of Prohibition even played a part in the political realignment of the country.*** In many of the "ethnic neighborhoods" previously mentioned, residents, often, but not always Catholic, were more tightly cemented to the Democratic Party when many Democrats advocated, and got, the repeal of Prohibition in 1933 (the 21st Amendment).(Note: Many immigrants, both Protestant and Catholic, came from cultures where alcoholic beverages, wine, beer or special liquors, were part of their every day lives. People of fundamentalist religious beliefs generally supported Prohibition. I must admit, I'm not sure how many Jewish immigrants or Asian immigrants viewed alcohol in those times.)

By the 1970s, the old Democratic coalition from the 1930s was showing more than a few strains. The Civil Rights legislation of the 1960s (supported by a majority in both parties in both Houses of Congress), but with major opposition by southern Democrats) had brought a backlash from southern whites, and the movement of many blacks northward, mainly into large industrial cites, strained relations with white working class Americans.**** In old city neighborhoods, the general prosperity of the post World War Two era gave working class people a chance to move into developing suburbs and the middle class. Interestingly, the help by progressives in both parties, but mainly in the Democratic Party in that era, in fostering a fairer distribution of income (often by supporting unions) helped make at least some, if not much, of this possible, but once in suburban areas, voters began to be much more selective in their choice of candidates, often turning more conservative and casting their lot with Republicans. To be fair, change is not always easy for people to accept quickly, but until recently, time gradually brought general acceptance of the changes, except for some who have remained angry and determined to turn back the clock. This angry segment of society, often, but not in every case, white and male, became a part of the Republican coalition, although many maintained their registration as Democrats (I told you, change is not always easy or quick), being termed "Reagan Democrats" during the 1980s. Thar's NOT to say there aren't angry members of the Democratic Party too. Remember, by essentially maintaining a two-party system, it isn't easy to keep voters happy with every position announced by respective party candidates. That's part of the coalition building needed to gain and retain political power.  

So what about women? That's next in Part Seven...

* "Ethnic" in the sense that many immigrants had poured into America from the late 1800s and well into the 1900s, often congregating in specific neighborhoods of cities or towns, where they lived and worked. The prosperity of the post-World War Two era helped many of these people, or perhaps more so their children or grandchildren, to move into then developing suburbs of the nation, which then often brought a change to their political views, as will be seen.

** I'm certainly generalizing here, as how tariffs affected markets and prosperity is another debate, but let's keep this simple and common sense. If a company in a foreign country could ship some product to the U.S. cheaper than you could make it here, either as an owner or employee, your business or job was threatened. The higher the tariffs imposed on such imported goods, the less threatened your business or job was. The theory was, with industry doing well, workers would do well, and both business people and workers would spend their earnings on goods in other businesses, thus spreading the prosperity. The main problem was, profits from "protected" industries were not often shared in any sense of a fair manner with workers. Further, the other side was, high American tariffs brought high counter tariffs by foreign countries on American goods sold overseas; so, if you were an exporter, you hated high tariffs. Tariffs were the main source of revenue for the Federal government until the early 1900s. Republicans generally saw tariffs as a "money maker" for Uncle Sam, while Democrats preferred that tariffs only be used to keep the government solvent, and that lesser tariffs could be used to promote the export of American goods.    

*** Prohibition forbid the manufacture, sale or transport of intoxicating beverages in America. It became the law of the land with the 18th Amendment, which went into effect in early 1920. It also spawned the growth and proliferation of organized crime in America, as opponents of the law, often, but not always, Catholic Americans (and hypocritical supporters who liked a little nip once and a while or more) wanted alcoholic beverages, against the law or not. "Bootlegging" soared, as various alcoholic beverages were produced in basements, bathtubs, and backyards. Some of the alcohol produced was downright dangerous, containing impurities that could cause blindness and even death. For those familiar with "The Beverly Hillbillies," the highly popular television comedy of the 1960s, you may recall how Granny kept a still to produce what she called her "rheumatiz medicine," a beverage that could eat right through the table if spilled. Son in law Jed said it was so powerful, he used it to "blow (tree) stumps." The gangster era became famous, as organized crime groups established "business" territories in cities, large and small, where they made money by the shovel full, or maybe, the "bathtub full," would be a better way of putting it. As one group tried to move into another group's territory, fighting would break out, with paid gunmen on both (or all) sides, but casualties of innocent passersby was not uncommon. Chicago's Al Capone is the most famous of the Prohibition era gangsters to most Americans.

**** The immensely popular television comedy "All In The Family" clearly demonstrated the strains in American society, as character Archie Bunker, a working class New Yorker, was appalled and angry over the changes going on around him, including the addition of a black family next door to him. While not a faithful voter (see note), Archie was a Republican, showing how white working class Americans were changing political allegiance from Democrats to Republicans. (Note: In one episode, Archie goes to vote, only to be turned away for expired registration, because he hadn't voted in such a long time.)    

WORD HISTORY:
Wheat-This word, closely related to "white," goes back to Indo European "kweytos/kwi(n)dos," which had the notion of "bright, shining." This gave Old Germanic "(k)hwaitijaz," literally "the bright or shining grain." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "hwaete," which then became "whete," before the modern version. Common in the other Germanic languages: German has "Weizen," Low German Saxon has "Weet," West Frisian has "weet," Dutch has "weit," Danish has "hvede," Icelandic has "hveiti," "Norwegian has "hveti,"
and Swedish has "vete.

Archie Bunker Lives On

This was first published in April 2012

I suppose some people might not know who Archie Bunker was, although unfortunately, they probably know someone very much like him. Well, Archie was a character, played by Carroll O'Connor, on the highly popular CBS television comedy "All In The Family," which originally aired during the 1970s. At the end of the decade, the show, which had lost important cast members, was renamed "Archie Bunker's Place," and continued its run into the early 1980s. Reruns of the show have been on ever since. The show was set in the Queens section of New York City with Archie as a working class, socially and politically conservative guy who felt besieged by the changes taking place around him. He was a bigot who saw race, ethnicity or religion in all matters. He was Protestant and thought of himself as a religious man, although he rarely attended church, and his actions and statements towards others were usually anything but Christian. I suppose he could be called, "THE angry white man."

Other important characters in the show were Archie's wife, Edith, who was a bit scatterbrained, but always understanding, with a perception into other people's psychology, including that of her difficult husband, who called her a "dingbat." Then there was Gloria, their liberal daughter, who was married to Mike, a hippie-type liberal, whose Polish heritage was a waiting target for the bigoted Archie.

The show stunned many people back then by its treatment of long taboo subjects, like sex* and gay issues, and by its treatment of race, ethnicity and religion. Middle-aged and older people I was around back in those times seemed to view the show as too pro-liberal, but I think they often missed some of the digs at liberals. While the show's creator, Norman Lear, had the writers poke fun at Archie's bigotry and beliefs, he also had a sort of "soft spot" for Archie, which showed viewers why Archie was so angry at the world. In what was one of the best episodes, in my opinion, Archie is little seen (he goes to the neighborhood bar), but his presence is there, and the episode also took some shots at liberal Mike, and by extension, at many liberals. Edith, Gloria, Mike, plus black neighbor, Lionel, and a Catholic neighbor couple, the Lorenzos, get together at the Bunker home to play a game where a drawn card tells the player to give their true feelings about a certain other person. Mike and Lionel are paired back to back, and they are supposed to push against one another while telling each other their real feelings. Mike, always concerned about race relations in America, was always telling Lionel about race issue stories he had read or seen on television. Lionel tells Mike he doesn't always want to hear this kind of thing, and Mike says something like, "What do you want me talk about with you, the weather?" Lionel replies, "Yes, black people have weather too!" Thus the game begins and others take their shots at Mike, too. Edith tells him that he acts too stuck up at times (a shot at what conservatives see as "elitism"), and that she doesn't think it is right for him to make fun of Archie. Mike explodes and says everyone is picking on him. In just a great scene, Edith takes Mike into the kitchen to smooth over his hurt feelings. The usually happy Edith turns serious, and when Mike says something to the effect that he doesn't want to hear what she has to say, Edith gets firm and says, "You will listen!" She tells him that Archie is jealous of him because Archie had to quit school early on in his life to help support his family, and that "he's never going to be anymore than he is right now. But you're going to college and you can be anything you want to be; that's why Archie is jealous of you." A chastened Mike now gets it. All of these years later, and after seeing the episode in reruns, that one scene sticks in my mind above all others.

Archie Bunker lives on in some, if not many, of the views of untold Americans; I suppose in all of us to varying degrees, but I hear some very disturbing comments coming from zealots in one political party, especially.** We're jealous and afraid, real human feelings. We see people who look or sound different from us doing well, and it scares us or makes us resentful. The question is, will we let these feelings inside of us hold us back, or indeed, take us back in time, or will we try to overcome our fears and live together as a true nation.

* For those too young to have lived through those times, you can't even imagine how groundbreaking "All In The Family" really was on many topics, and watching reruns or DVDs can't convey the attitudes that had prevailed up to that time. Sex topics were so restricted on television back then, that married couples were shown sleeping in separate beds and women had to cover their navels. All In The Family's creator, Norman Lear, also had other hit shows after All In The Family's initial success: "Sanford and Son," "Maude" (from a character first introduced to the public on All In The Family and played by the great Bea Arthur), "Good Times," and "The Jeffersons."

** A Michele Bachmann comment about doing away with the minimum wage to reduce unemployment is very troubling to me, and it should be to you, too. I think such talk would even shake Archie's conservative beliefs, and he might even have called her a "dingbat," a term far too kind for a person of her nasty ilk.

Photo is from the 2002 Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment DVD

WORD HISTORY:
Earnest-The ultimate origin of this word is uncertain, but Old Germanic had "ernustiz," which indicated "vigorous, intense feeling, seriousness, zealous in battle." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "eornoste," with essentially the same meanings, but the meaning began to be altered and confined through time to the present "serious." This later became "ernest," before the modern version. While I am not totally certain of this, apparently forms of the word have died out in North Germanic (Norwegian, Swedish, Icelandic, Danish), but the West Germanic part of Germanic still has forms, all with the meaning "serious": German has "ernst," some Low German has "eanst," (no "r"), some Low German has "eernst," West Frisian "earnstich," and Dutch "ernstig."