the.com/engagement
A promise to keep promising, ratified by a circle of compressed carbon you can't afford.
means A formal agreement or commitment to do something — most often the promise to marry, but also any arrangement to be somewhere, fight someone, or hold someone's attention.
from From the Old French 'engager,' to pledge or pawn — built from 'en-' (in) plus 'gage,' a pledge or security. That 'gage' is the same word lurking in 'wage' and 'wager': all about staking something to bind yourself. Originally you 'engaged' by putting up a token of good faith; the diamond is just the modern, expensive 'gage.' The romantic sense is fairly late — for centuries you could equally be 'engaged' in battle, in conversation, or in a contract, which tells you something honest about marriage.
- diamond myth
- De Beers invented the two-month salary rule in 1947 ads
- ring finger
- Romans believed it held a vein straight to the heart
- military origin
- The word once meant a battle, not a betrothal
- average length
- Engagements now stretch past 18 months before vows
- break rate
- Roughly 1 in 5 engagements never reach the altar
meghan markle prince harry — announced engagement may 2017, married may 2018 at windsor castle
britney spears sam asghari — engaged november 2021 after 5 years dating, called off september 2023
operation desert storm — 1991 military engagement in kuwait with 956 coalition deaths
battle of gettysburg — july 1863 engagement in pennsylvania with 51,000 casualties