Maltsters, Roadsters and Slaysters

The evolution of language has always interested me.  It is essentially History, with most of the the specific dates and individuals edited out.  How we describe the world around us says a lot about that world.  And about us.  The world keeps changing.  People change too, but on a variable and , uneven time scale.

Consider the word ending "-ster".  It is related to the common descriptor "-er",  often used to associate individuals - and in time entire families - with an occupation.  Carter, Archer, Farmer, Miller.  You knew what those men did.

Yes, men.  In the fashion of most languages certain words got feminine, neuter or masculine connotations.  English does not do this much in modern times, but as it derives from various Germanic sources it was heavily gender specific in its earlier evolution.

And there were occupations and activities that were traditionally female.  Women used to brew the beer,  hence Brewster.  And do the baking, Baxter with an odd X thrown in somehow.  Women did most of the spinning of thread.  Spinster reflects this tradition but now we start to see a degree of negativity creeping into things.

There are some fascinating near extinct examples....can words actually become extinct so long as someone remembers them?   Chaucer used the word "chidester" for an angry woman.  A few centuries later a similar meaning was attached to "scoldster".  "Slayster" is a particularly harsh word describing a murderess.

In modern times the suffix has become even more derisive, albeit in a semi-humorous fashion.  "Scamster, fraudster, huckster" all have about them the connotation of dishonesty with some element of joking around.  "Jokesters" after a fashion.

Of course words are poorly behaved and can't be neat and tidy.  Hampster has an unrelated Slovokian origin.  Monster is gender neutral and comes pretty much straight up from Latin.  Dumpster is a modern word but with deep roots.  Northern England, where much etymological goofiness originates, had Deemers, or judges.  Dempster was the feminine form of the word and eventually a company named Dempster Brothers in Knoxville, Tennessee patented the word and design, taking advantage of the acoustic similarity of their name to dump.  

Pondering various other candidates I did consider Roadster.  In an automotive sense it is obviously new, circa 1908.  But in the days before cars it was a light carriage drawn by horses.  This gets you to the late 1800's, but at that point it was a call back to a still earlier word that involved ships at anchor.  How?  It seems counter intuitive that a vehicle moving on land and one stationary on water could be the same thing.  Until you recall that in the past "Roads" was a term used for a near shore anchoring place.  Hampton Roads preserves this unusual - in our era - use of the word.