This is one of the words that my father knew and I was so impressed that he knew it. I was in my teens probably and it was in a B.C. cartoon of all places. Someone said: "I take considerable umbrage at your use of that word". I don't remember the word in question nor can I say I am properly remembering this story, it was over 40 years ago after all. But when I asked Dick (that's what my father's nickname and indeed what all of us called him) what it meant he knew right away:
Umbrage -- a feeling of pique or resentment at some often fancied slight or insult.
That's the merriam-webster.com version, but in the mail today I got this:
Umbrage comes from the Old French ombrage (shade, shadow), and it was once used to talk about actual shade from the sun. It took on various figurative meanings having to do with doubt and suspicion or the giving and taking of offense. To give umbrage was to offend someone, to "throw shade." However, these days when we see the term umbrage at all, it is more likely to be because someone is taking, rather than giving it.
That is where we get "umbrella" Words are just fu**ing cool...
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