kickshaw

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 17, 2008 is: kickshaw • \KICK-shaw\  • noun 1 : a fancy dish 2 : a showy trifle Examples: The shop was filled with refrigerator magnets, back-scratchers, snow globes, and other kickshaws, all adorned with images of smiling pigs. Did you know? “Kickshaw” 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.” See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.