Picture Joe Pesci in Goodfellas: “I’m funny how? I mean, funny like I’m a clown? I amuse you? I make you laugh?”
After this memorable line, the mood shifts from amusement to bemusement, with the mobsters baffled as to why their colleague would be furious they laughed at his joke. If you’re amused, you’re having fun. But if you’re bemused, you might not be.
The two words look similar, but they aren’t as closely related as they appear. “Amuse” is borrowed from the French verb amuser, meaning “to entertain or to fool.” The English meaning of “amuse” (in all parts of speech) hasn’t strayed far from that, and generally indicates entertainment or diversion. For example, “The amusing magician amused the children at the amusement park.”
Meanwhile, “bemuse” comes from the Latin verb musare, meaning “to ponder.” From this root, we also get the words “muse” and “musing,” referring to thought and pensive reflection. Adding the prefix “be-,” meaning “to cause,” the word “bemuse” really makes you think. (Get it? Too Dad jokey?)
This is where we also draw a connection to the Muses of Greek and Roman mythology — nine goddesses of inspiration. A now-archaic usage of “bemused” meant “devoted to the Muses,” but this is also the root of “museum,” which comes from the Greek mouseion, meaning “seat of the Muses.”
Even though the roots are different, and thus the words have different meanings, their similar appearance has caused similar usages over time. And when people use words in mistaken ways repeatedly, the definitions can shift. Merriam-Webster notes the confusion about “bemused” meaning “wryly amused” likely started with a 1735 poem by Alexander Pope, and it was repeated from there. However, he used “bemused” in 1705 referencing the Muses, so he did know the original intention of “making one think.”
When it comes down to it, these terms do have distinct roots and definitions (“amuse” means “to entertain,” and “bemuse” means “to confuse”), but the modern usage has evolved to have some crossover. For example, “I bemused the children with algebra lessons,” suggests the children are confused, or puzzled. But when I say, “Sometimes I find the rules of grammar bemusing,” I’m having fun with it. I know I certainly have been amused by things I don’t understand, especially in a museum.
