Life's Questions Answered

In today's Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day, I learned the answer to an age-old question that has puzzled America's youth ever since Bianca Stratford's best friend asked it in Ten Things I Hate About You.

"I know you can be overwhelmed, and you can be underwhelmed, but can you ever just be whelmed?"

Wonder no more, young people of America!  According to Merriam-Webster:

You could say that the introduction of "overwhelm" to the English language was a bit redundant. The word, which originally meant "to overturn or upset," was formed in Middle English by combining the prefix "over-" with the verb "whelmen," which also meant "to overturn." "Whelmen" has survived in English as "whelm," a verb which is largely synonymous with "overwhelm." Over the last 600 years, however, "overwhelm" has won over English speakers who have come to largely prefer it to "whelm," despite the latter's brevity. Perhaps the emphatic redundancy of "overwhelm" makes it seem like the more fitting word for describing the experience of being overcome by powerful forces or feelings.