silly (adj.)

古英语 gesælig “快乐的, 偶然的, 繁荣的” (与 sæl “幸福” 有关), 来自于原日耳曼语 *sæligas (也是古北欧语 sæll “快乐”, 古撒克逊语 salig, 中荷兰语 salich, 古高德语 salig, 德语 selig “幸福的, 快乐的, 幸福的”, 哥特语 sels “好的, 善良的” 的来源).

This is one of the few instances in which an original long e (ee) has become shortened to i. The same change occurs in breeches, and in the American pronunciation of been, with no change in spelling. [Century Dictionary]

这个词的意义发展相当大, 从“快乐” 到“幸福” 到“虔诚”, 到“无辜” (13世纪), 到“无害”, 到“可怜” (13世纪末), 到“软弱” (14世纪), 再到“心灵脆弱, 缺乏理智, 愚蠢” (1570年代). 在 knocked silly, 等 Silly season 新闻俚语中进一步趋向于“惊呆了, 像被打击了一样晕眩” (1886年). 新闻俚语中 从1861年开始(8月和9月, 报纸用琐碎的故事来弥补硬新闻的不足). Silly Putty 商标主张从1949年7月开始使用.

It is a widespread phenomenon that the words for 'innocent', apart from their legal use, develop, through 'harmless, guileless', a disparaging sense 'credulous, naive, simple, foolish. ' [Buck]