{"id":30212,"date":"2014-02-19T00:10:21","date_gmt":"2014-02-19T08:10:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/?p=30212"},"modified":"2014-02-18T22:18:07","modified_gmt":"2014-02-19T06:18:07","slug":"bane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/index.php\/2014\/02\/bane\/","title":{"rendered":"What A “Bane” Is"},"content":{"rendered":"
Meghan asks: In “The bane of my existence” what is a bane?<\/div>\n

\"bane\"<\/a>The phrase \u201cthe bane of my existence\u201d is extremely popular, and you\u2019ve probably said it once or twice yourself, perhaps about a difficult exam during finals week, or the cat who woke you up at 3 a.m. for breakfast, or the gym teacher who made you run an extra mile. When you say that something is the bane of your existence, you generally mean that it is something that causes you a great deal of misery.<\/p>\n

But what exactly is a bane? The word isn\u2019t used by itself much anymore\u2014you\u2019ll almost exclusively hear it in the \u201cbane of my existence\u201d expression. Turns out, the word bane comes from the Old English word bana<\/i>, which means \u201cmurderer.\u201d (Other related words include the Old English benn,<\/i> which means \u201cwound,\u201d the Gothic banja, which means \u201cstroke or wound,\u201d and the Avestan banta,<\/i> which means \u201cill.\u201d)<\/p>\n

As you can imagine, back in 800 A.D. when the word was recorded in the Old English Chronicles<\/i>, annoyances like exams and early-rising cats weren\u2019t referred to as \u201cbanes\u201d\u2014it was a word reserved for much more deadly threats.<\/p>\n

As the years went on, bane started to refer to things that weren\u2019t actual human murderers, but simply things that caused death\u2014an illness, for instance. By the 14th<\/sup> century, the word became more specialized and was applied to poisons. That\u2019s where you get plant names like Wolfsbane and Henbane, and poison like Ratsbane (now no longer in use). Wolfsbane and Henbane are both plants which are poisonous to those animals and (usually) also humans.<\/p>\n

However, by the end of the 16th<\/sup> century, the word and phrase came to mean what we know today: an annoyance that is frustrating at the time, but ultimately bearable and won\u2019t end up killing you. The earliest recorded use of the phrase was in 1592, in Foure Letters and certaine Sonnets<\/i> by Gabriel Harvey:<\/p>\n

He that like a Lacedemonian, or Romane, accounteth Infamy worse than death, would be loath to emprove his courage, or to employ his patience, in digestinge the pestilent bane of his life.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Interestingly, Merriam-Webster claims that it was once also acceptable to use \u201cbane\u201d as a verb\u2014so, \u201cbaning\u201d someone once meant \u201cto kill, especially with poison\u201d while a person who had been \u201cbaned\u201d had been \u201ckilled with poison.\u201d This verb is now obsolete and, much like the noun bane on its own, you probably won\u2019t hear it a lot in common conversation. This knowledge might come in handy if you ever find yourself reading through Old English texts, though, or are a writer interesting in bring back antiquated usages of words.<\/p>\n

So, next time you say your cat is the bane of your existence, just be happy it isn\u2019t actually going to kill you like a real \u201cbane\u201d would… or is it<\/a>!<\/p>\n

If you liked this article, you might also enjoy our new popular podcast, The BrainFood Show (iTunes<\/a>, Spotify<\/a>, Google Play Music<\/a>, Feed<\/a>), as well as:<\/p>\n