Word Geek

My English Professor (for my Shakespeare course) touched briefly on the use of the suffix '-ling.' It was in the context of the villain in Marlow's play The Jew Of Malta calling the audience 'worldlylings' which is insulting. Adding '-ling' to the end of a word demeans it. It makes it mean a young, small, or inferior thing. Think 'duckling' or 'underling' or 'darling' or 'fledgling' or 'yearling'. I wish it was around more still, as it is amusingly condescending.