Saturday 8 January 2011

kickshaw

n1: a fancy dish 2: a showy trifle

The shop was filled with refrigerator magnets, back-scratchers, snow globes, and other kickshaws, all adorned with images of smiling pigs.

Did You Know?

This noun began its career in the late 16th century as a borrowing from the French quelque chose - literally, "something." In line with the French pronunciation of the day, the "l" was dropped and the word was anglicized as "kickshaws" or "kickshoes." English-speakers soon lost all consciousness of the word's French origin and, by taking "kickshaws" as plural, created the new singular noun "kickshaw."

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In my world....

As I packed up my Christmas decorations, I realized that I should get rid of some of my kickshaws...otherwise known as JUNK!

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