In 2025 we celebrate the 250 anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth. Today (24 January 2025) I do want to talk about something more uplifting than the inauguration of Donald Trump, a man not lacking in pride or prejudice (… it is a truth universally acknowledged, that talentless men in possession of large fortunes, will more easily be able to rise to the office of US President).
Jane Austen words
My wife and mother are both avid fans of Jane Austen. I have spent many hours watching the brooding Mr Darcy in the BBC Pride and Prejudice series from 1995. At some point I even read the book (originally published in 1813).
Austen’s other novels are: Sense and Sensibility (1811), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1816); and Northanger Abbey and Persuasion (1817) published after her death.
Austen’s work was written more than 200 years ago, but the English language has hardly changed. However, some of the vocabulary of those times has moved on. We seldom, for instance, would use “solicitude” to explain a feeling of excessive concern; or “countenance” to explain the appearance conveyed by a person’s face. These words are used rarely today.
To vex
My favourite word “Austen word” is “vex”. Nothing epitomises Mrs Bennet, the mother of the five daughters in Pride and Prejudice, more than her line:
Mr. Bennet, how can you abuse your own children in such a way? You take delight in vexing me. You have no compassion on my poor nerves.
From my analysis “vex” appears in its different forms 23 times in Pride and Prejudice: once as “vex”; eight times as “vexed”’; once as “vexing”; 11 times as “vexation”; and twice as “vexatious”.
Using vex in a sentence
“Vex” is not used much in modern language except to suggest some Austen-esque slight, but it does have a life in the legal profession. Vexatious proceedings are those that are an abuse of process; are instituted or conducted to harass or annoy, or are without reasonable grounds. Lawyers are more vexatious than other people one can conclude.
Origins of vex
The word history of “vex” is quite straightforward and with its V and X you could guess it’s a Latin word. It comes from “vexare”, literally meaning to shake, jolt, or toss violently but also figuratively meaning to attack, harass, trouble, or annoy. Its origins are in the word “vectus” to draw or carry.
Like many Latin words it came to English from French. The Old French word “vexer” meant to harass. It’s root is very old going back to a proto-Indo-European word “wegh” meaning to go, move, or transport in a vehicle.
The word of the year?
I fear that the year ahead of us with Trump the leader of the free world and an Australian election soon, will vex us very much. And in the words of Mr Darcy, which echoes into our time:
The more I see of the world, the more am I dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of merit or sense.