If we say ‘we’re thrilled’ about something, we’re really happy about it. Now imagine you are a jouster in a medieval tournament, mounted on your horse, helmet down and ready to do battle. Your contest will thrill the crowd gathered to watch, but it might also thrill someone or something else, too.

Have a guess who or what…

A. Your opponent in the jousting tournament. To ‘thrill’ once meant to ‘stab’ or ‘pierce a hole’ in something.

B. Your horse. To thrill someone was to hold them completely in your power.

C. Your nose, which would be pierced with a stud displaying the coat of arms of your master.

ANSWER: A!

The earliest meaning of ‘thrill’ was to pierce a hole in someone or something. The sort of hole a pointed weapon like a jouster’s lance could make.

So you would certainly NOT be thrilled to be thrilled, if you see what I mean.

By the way, those nose studs in answer C were a bit of a trick. Nose piercings weren’t really in fashion then, but noses are connected to ‘thrills’ in another way, for the word ‘nostril’ was once a ‘nose-thrill’ — in other words, a nose-hole.

Simple!