Pernickety

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Dr. Goodword
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Pernickety

Postby Dr. Goodword » Fri Mar 14, 2014 10:55 pm

• pernickety •

Pronunciation: pêr-nik-i-ti • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Adjective

Meaning: [Slangy] 1. (US) Fussy or exacting about details, fastidious, finicky, punctilious. 2. (UK) Snobbish, supercilious, pretentious.

Notes: No, it isn't a typo; the original word was pernickety without the S. The S crept in later in the US, but is spreading to other dialects of English around the world. The noun referring to the quality of a pernickety person is pernicketiness, and the seldom used adverb is pernicketily. Feel free to include or omit the S.

In Play: If you are pernickety about your speech, you will probably want to use the S-less version of today's word: "Never help Gilda Lilly set the table. She is so pernickety about where every piece goes, she will drive you insane." If you prefer to talk like everyone else, you can cave in and include the S: "June McBride is so persnickety about her clothes, she changes them two or three times a day."

Word History: No one knows where today's Good Word comes from. It is clear that pernickety was first published in 1802 and preceded persnickety, which first appeared in print in 1892. This means that we are free to speculate on its origin until someone unearths real evidence. It may be a whimsical creation that caught our imaginations and stuck, like stick-to-itiveness. It might have originally been an accidental blend, a speech error in which we search for a word in memory, come up with two having the same or complementary meanings, and "blend" them together in speaking. That is the origin of smog, a blend of smoke and fog. Pernickety could have been a three-way blend of particular, niggling, and finicky. However, keep in mind that this is all blind speculation, for those who are not pernickety about their etymology. (We don't have to be pernickety to thank Dr. Goodword's friend Kathleen McCune of Norway, who suggested today's Good Word years ago, and Susan Ardith Lee, who reminded me of it later on.)
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David Myer
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Re: Pernickety

Postby David Myer » Sun Mar 16, 2014 6:18 pm

This one, I found astonishing.

First I have never heard it with an s. As I read the story, I kept thinking "where would an s go in pernickety?" But this may be entirely a US corruption.

But my second astonishment, was the second offered meaning as snobbish or pretentious. And it is suggested that this is a UK use! I have never heard it used with that meaning in the UK or Australia. Once again my lack of exposure to the real world has exposed my ignorance. I suppose I should just try harder not to be surprised by my own ignorance.

But I would be most interested to see or hear about the books (or whatever), where that snobbish meaning has been intended. Without a clear origin, of course, it is difficult to say that any use is a misunderstanding or error.

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call_copse
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Re: Pernickety

Postby call_copse » Mon Mar 17, 2014 7:11 am

I'm with you David - though I think I can just about recall reading persnickety in writings of US origin, I have never heard it in the wild, whilst pernickety is common. I don't know the snobbish meaning either, though I guess it's a logical extension.
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Re: Pernickety

Postby Perry Lassiter » Mon Mar 17, 2014 1:26 pm

I have never heard of it, to my memory, without the S. I have lived in Louisiana most of my life, but also 10 years in Texas, three in Kentucky, and two in California. What about more of our North American readers chipping in. Obviously some locations say the word without an S.
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Re: Pernickety

Postby Philip Hudson » Thu Mar 20, 2014 5:21 pm

Us rednecks have not heard the word pernickety except from some city slickers. It is persnickety in the hinterlands and we are persnickety about insisting on this. My spell check and my dictionary give both spellings.
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