In a recent comment (of course I forget to whom) I recently used the phrase (not technically a phrase but you know . . .), spic and span. And then I wondered, where the heck did that come from. We all know the phrase means very clean to the average person, or "spotlessly clean and neat" according to dictionary.com.
What I didn't realize until I did my bit an internet sleuthing as that it should be spelled spick and not spic. Of course it was Spic and Span in the old cleaning product. I say old because I haven't seen it on the shelves or at least not noticed it on the shelves for quite awhile.
What interested me was the history of the phrase, and I discovered that it dates to the 16th and 17th centuries when it came to mean new and fresh. That is because spick was the word for nail, which a workman would use to fashion something new. The span part probably dates back to Norse, referring to a chip of wood, as in newly carved wood. If you put them together, it seems that you would be nailing something new with wood.
Although its secondary meaning can still refer to fresh and new, over time the spotlessly clean and neat meaning has become dominant.
I wonder if it is one of those phrases that will become lost as we are succeeded by a generation with new and rapidly evolving vocabulary.
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I searched for the cleaning product and found that it can still be found at Walmart, Amazon and fine retailers everywhere. I must remember to look in my own grocery store.
I will sometimes look up phrases like that and wonder where they came from and what they actually meant. Recently, it was "play it by ear".
ReplyDeleteI always love to hear the history of where words and phrases came from. Thanks for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteVery cool. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI learned something here! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI used to listen to a show by public radio that gave the history of words and phrases. It was on NPR on Saturday mornings..I heard it because that station was the only one that came in at the guard shack.
ReplyDeleteA Way With Words, is what it is called and it still is on the air.
DeleteOh, I remember that show. We would sometimes listen to it on trips to the cottage.
DeleteExcellent education today! Thanks. Elbow grease is also sometimes used. Where'd that come from?
ReplyDeleteMy mom used to buy Spic and Span!
ReplyDeleteA lot of phrases and words get absorbed into our speech despite what their original meanings were. Think of "dial" as in making a call. We say "Let me dial that number" but there is no dial anymore.
ReplyDeleteNo frost here last night despite the warning. We woke to fog.
Denise at English Girl explains the mess with blog updating. Hers now updates but yours still stuck on my list as being weeks old.
Thanks for the research you did. I haven't seen Spic & Span in years.
ReplyDeleteI grew up with Spic and Span (and Pinesol) being in the house. I still use the term, it's a good one!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't love language (and its history) more. Thanks, AC.
ReplyDeleteThe origin of words and phrases is fascinating to me. I say things and then wonder, "Where did that expression come from?"
ReplyDeleteThat is a very amusing and interesting post. I used to use Spic and Span a lot, but did not know it was still available. 'Spick', brother of 'spike', but the 'span' is a reach, eh?
ReplyDeleteI must have lead a deprived childhood because I couldn't tell you how to use that product at all. I suppose there are directions somewhere on the back.
ReplyDeleteI have not seen Spic and Span for years! I had no idea it was still available!:I also had no idea where the term originated. You are ever educational.
ReplyDeleteI have never seen Spic and Span in Australia and reading the label I see "when liquid cleaners are just not enough", then my long-dead mother's voice kicked in "you should have cleaned before it got so dirty!" and now I have to sweep my floors.
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