Pylimitics

When you’re in the process of using some words — or even sometimes just when you’re looking at them — they look misspelled even though they’re not. There’s something about those words that’s just awkward. One good example is “awkward” — a “K” in between two “W”s?? That combination is certainly unusual, apparently there’s only one other word in English with that sequence of letters: “hawkweed,” which is some sort of plant (possibly a wildflower).

“Awkward” is not just awkward; its meaning has changed substantially since it was created in the 1300s. It arose first in Scotland and meant “turned in the wrong direction.” So at the time you might have heard “he was late coming home because he took an awkward turn.” (Well, ok, you wouldn’t have heard exactly that in the 1300s; it would have been something more like this, from the 1340 poem Pricke of Conscience:

“Þe world þai all awkeward sette” 
(“They turned the world all awry”)

“Awkward” might have come from the Old Icelandic word “ǫfugr” (turned the wrong way) according to the Chambers Dictionary of Etymology. But the OED contends that the origin is the Old Norse word “afug” (also spelled “öfug” or ”öfig”), which meant the same thing. Disagreements among authoritative sources can be awkward!

The use of “awkward” to mean “clumsy” appeared around the 1500s, when it was used in combination with “left-handed,” which sometimes also meant clumsy in that era. In the early 1600s Shakespeare used it to mean an ungraceful action: “…with ridiculous and aukward action…” (that’s from Troilus and Cressida). 

In the 1660s Samuel Pepys (whose surname is pretty awkward too, come to think of it) used it to describe someone, and probably meant “ungainly:” “The most awkerd man I ever met withal in my life.” Following that, you can find citations of “awkward” being used for embarrassing situations (in 1709), people who are ill-at-ease (1713), something that’s difficult (1860), and a person who’s difficult to deal with (1863). 

There don’t seem to be any other English words closely related to “awkward.” “Gawky” seems like it might be connected, but apparently isn’t. However, it’s still possible, because the etymology of “gawky” is pretty tangled. The OED says it’s difficult — but they probably meant awkward.