Because words do change in meaning all the time, and 200 years is a long time. JanetR has an impressive knowledge! May I say that the things that irritate me are 'alright' which isn't even a real word now, and even 'all right' would never have been an acknowledgment/agreement in JA's time; 'alot' which equally is no word save when one alots a stipend, for example; and 'feisty' which meant an ill natured lady dog and was definitely perjorative, and not the encomium it may be in this day and age for a heroine of spirit.
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