the.com/tarry
A word that means both to linger and to be covered in tar.
means To linger, loiter, or delay in leaving a place — to stay longer than expected (a separate sense from the adjective meaning 'covered in or resembling tar').
from The 'linger' verb is the older, murkier one — it surfaces in Middle English as 'tarien,' meaning to delay or vex, possibly from Old English 'tergan,' to irritate or provoke, though its exact path is debated and some see influence from Old French 'tarier,' to provoke. The tar-coated sense is unrelated and transparent: it's simply 'tar,' the black sticky stuff (Old English 'teru,' a cousin of words across the Germanic languages tied to tree resin), plus the adjective ending '-y.' Two words wearing the same coat by pure accident.
- two meanings
- To delay, or sticky like asphalt
- different roots
- The verb and adjective share no origin
- medieval flavor
- The lingering sense dates to the 1300s
- poet's favorite
- Common in old hymns and ballads
- silent decline
- Rarely spoken aloud in modern English
odysseus at calypso's island — greek hero delayed 7 years in homer's odyssey before returning home
waiting for godot — samuel beckett's 1953 play where two characters wait indefinitely for someone who never arrives