Word of the Day
: May 24, 2014kickshaw
playWhat It Means
1 : a fancy dish : delicacy
2 : a showy trifle : trinket
kickshaw in Context
The display case was filled with costume jewelry and various kickshaws from the 1920s.
"Mitra's Chocolates on Military Rd in Spit Junction is a haven for sweet-toothed connoisseurs, with a smorgasbord of fine-quality, hand-crafted kickshaws that tempt the eyes as well as the taste buds." - From an article by Emma Page in Mosman & Lower North Shore Daily (Australia), March 25, 2010
Did You Know?
"Kickshaw" began its career in the late 16th century as a borrowing from 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 forgot about the word's French origin and, by taking "kickshaws" as plural, created the new singular noun "kickshaw." These days, you are most likely to encounter "kickshaw" in historical contexts or quotations from older sources. For example, the following sentence from a 2008 article in The Republican (Springfield, Massachusetts) described a 19th century meal: "Dinner would begin with 'kickshaws,' appetizers such as breadsticks, dips, spreads, olives, celery and oysters."
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What former Word of the Day begins with "f" and means "of or relating to financial matters"? The answer is …
