Thing To Be Yesterday: egregious.

If someone is egregious he or she is outstandingly bad, flagrantly awful, completely terrible.

(I'm sure there is no need to provide illustrative examples.)

But, you know something? Just look at the origin of the word!

Thing To Be Yesterday: egregious. This word appeared in English in the 1530s, when it meant distinguished, excellent or eminent. It comes from the Latin ēgregius, which means the same sort of thing. Ēgregius comes from ex grege, rising above the flock, from grex, a herd or flock.

So why does it now mean exactly the opposite?

Well, because someone in the late 1500s got sarcastic, and the sarcasm caught on so completely that the original meaning has withered away. 

Wouldn't it be well wicked if it got swopped back again?