Suit Yourself

Today is graduation day for our trainees.  It is the only time that you will see me wearing a suit.  Did you know the word ‘suit’ is over 600 years old?  It has a few different meanings.  You probably know that it refers to matching clothes (late 1300s) and you might also know its lawful definition.  A suit in law – also called a lawsuit (mid 1300s) – is type of legal action.  It comes from French meaning, “to pursue.”  That is also where pursuit comes from.  Tomorrow we will examine another definition of suit.  It is used in playing cards.

Suit can also be used as a verb.  It means, “to be agreeable with” or “appropriate.”  It can be used in the negative to say that someone or something doesn’t work well in the given situation.  When we use it in a positive way, we usually add a prefix, well- (as in well-suited).

Example (negative):  She doesn’t understand students.  She is not suited for her job.
Example (positive):  He is big and strong.  He is well-suited for helping me move to a new house. 

When someone says, “suit yourself,” (1851) they are basically saying to put clothes on yourself.  It means that you can do things your own way, as you wish.  You can wear the clothes that you want to wear, or do the things you want to do.  It is often used as a response to someone that you disagree with.  You are (sort of) telling them that they can do what they want, but you don’t want to be responsible for their decision.

Example:  “I don’t like my car’s color.  I am thinking about painting it green.”  “Suit yourself.” 

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Reference:
https://linguaholic.com/linguablog/suit-yourself-meaning/
https://www.etymonline.com/word/suit