Jaded from Jade

Dear Word Spy,

Hi, my name is Jade. Jade is a precious stone. So why do people say something is "jaded" when they mean it's old-fashioned or something?

Please write back to me!

from your fan Jade


Dear Jade,

I am glad you wrote and asked me this because I have often wondered myself. So I've done a bit of word spying... and found out that "jade" used to mean a tired old horse that you couldn't ride or send out to work any more. So if something was jaded it mean it was just plain worn out (poor old horse.)

As for the lovely green stone, jade, that you were named for - well, it comes from an old Latin word for the stomach area. That's because the precious stone jade was thought to help cure pain around there! So you might say, ow, I've got a pain in my jade!

In the end, your sort of "jade" and "jaded" have nothing to do with each other except that they sound the same. Hmm, I wonder if you can think of some other words like this?

your friend, not jaded yet!

The Word Spy