Overheard at... Starbucks

"Good fore-noon."

The rest of the conversation argued the concept that if there is an afternoon there should be a forenoon. I'm not sure how I feel about this, though since it's difficult enough to keep up with all the new online jargon, let alone updated 13th century words.

The etymology of good afternoon is based first in God, which stood for all things good, and then historically a time of day, such as morning. So in c. 1400 gode morwene eventually became our good morning. There was also good-night and good-day around the same period. But, much as I researched, I could not find fore-night, fore-morning (or even fore-morwene).... in fact fore-any time of day.

On the other hand, while most usages of the word fore date to the 15th century, it was used as early as the c. 13 in the word, forethought: to premidate, consider.

Why is any of this actually important? Well, probably it's not. I doubt that the local campaign to create good "fore-noon" is really going to catch on in any significant way. But, given the amount of time it takes for words to apparently change and grow (centuries in fact) it is possible that by 2200 a.d. people might be wishing each other good fore-noon. And this makes me wonder what other varietions there may be.

Some have already been created:
Afterword > foreword
thereafter> therefore

But other variations have clearly not yet been developed...
aftermath > foremath (though I think my daughter has already created this.... "Mom, can I watch tv fore-math)
aftershock > foreshock (close to forelock, but obviously not)
afterglow > foreglow (I'd love to see it.... it's the place I'd like to be in, but usually it's just okay, if you want."
afterbirth > forebirth (ha! I think a scream pretty much covers this one off already)

Oddly, it doesn't work nearly as well in the other direction...
foremost > aftermost
foreboding > afterboding
foreground > afterground
forefather > afterfather
Apparently what takes place in the future can't be discussed in the same way as the past.

There is, however, one exception which I am adding for my romance writer friends (so Delilah.... you can't tell me I don't sometimes think of, ahem, you know, that stuff).

Foreplay > afterplay..... and I really want to know what that looks like. This might be a word worth creating.