Talk:shew

wholly inaccurate

I find this definition to be wholly inaccurate. In every place I've seen the word "shew" use it was in the context of a person demonstrating a particular pattern of behavior. [Comment added by User:Grognardian on 13 September 2018‎.]

You wanna throw us a bone here? What pattern of behaviour? Can you give an example? Helenpaws (talk)

Archaic when?

Any guidance on roughly when this began to be regarded as "archaic"?

I noticed shewn in the 1949 film The Small Back Room, on a sign reading something like, "All passes must be shewn." I was curious as to whether this spelling could still have been in use at that time (I noticed another old-fashioned turn of phrase, with modal will used to mean want to). Or was it supposed to be a cheeky/subtle dig at poorly spelled signs? Or dialect?

—DIV (1.145.20.105 12:57, 29 October 2022 (UTC))

The OED just says "now archaic" for verbal shew (they seem to have citations into the 1800s), and for the noun, "Middle English–1800s". From my own reading, I am certain it would have been abnormal in 1949. Equinox ◑ 13:01, 29 October 2022 (UTC)