“Worldly” is a good example of a word that demonstrates some of what makes English fun and weird.
Think about it, you add ~ly to a word and it becomes an adverb, right? At least that is what we learned. True enough, or at least as true as any “rule” of English holds water.
If someone walks in a quick way, they walked quickly. If someone waits with eagerness, they waited eagerly. So then, what is worldly? In a world way? Someone acting like a world? Nope, what would that even mean?
Worldly can be used a few different ways. When discussing religion or spiritual ideas, it is an adjective that describes things related to the physical, temporary world as opposed to spiritual or religious things.
Another meaning is when it refers to a person who is knowledgeable and wise about a wide variety of things. It gives an image of someone being experienced, informed, and open-minded. It has a broad meaning as well that stretches from the idea of being sophisticated to being street-smart and practical. This is the main meaning I was thinking of when I made this blog. For more details, here are a few links to online dictionary definitions of the word. Choose your poison.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/worldly
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/worldly
I actually like that the Google knowledge panel lists my preferred definition at the top. Here is a screenshot of that.
So I will be trying to write my thoughts on words, education, and language learning in general.