What ‘Please’ Is Short For
“Say please!” This instruction is drilled into most children as they learn manners. The word “please” is a polite request for someone to do something for you or perhaps give you something. But if you look at the origins of this popular pleasantry, you’ll find that it’s derived from a
longer phrase that has since become largely obsolete in the English language. “Please” originated as a verb around the year 1300, from the Middle English “plesen,” which meant “to appease.” That term came from the Old French verb plaisir, meaning “to satisfy.” But by the latter half of the 14th...
