touchstone

[Cacasenno]

touchstone

SYLLABICATION: touch·stone
PRONUNCIATION: tchstn
NOUN: 1. A hard black stone, such as jasper or basalt, formerly used to test the quality of gold or silver by comparing the streak left on the stone by one of these metals with that of a standard alloy. 2. An excellent quality or example that is used to test the excellence or genuineness of others: “the qualities of courage and vision that are the touchstones of leadership” (Henry A. Kissinger). See synonyms at standard.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

Still used in many parts of the world to evaluate carats in gold, also called paragon stone.

[Bailey]

And here I thought a touchstone was a lucky piece people reached into their pockets to touch for special favor[like crossing one's fingers] in times of need. Thanks Cacasenno.

B.

[Cacasenno]

And here I thought a tpouchstone was a lucky piece people reached into their pockets to touch for special favor[like crossing one's fingers] in times of need. Thanks Cacasenno.

B.

I'd missed that.

I don't know how in the States you call a gesture to propitiate luck or, more specifically, to cast away bad luck. In Italy we call it 'scaramantico' and 'scaramantic' in English sounded right to me but I could not find it in the dictionary.

What you are referring to is still quite popular in southern Italy and elsewhere but it would have needed the plural.

Are women consistently unlucky?

[Perry]

I don't touch my stones in public.

[Bailey]

yeah Perry, we know, thanks for the explosive laughter.....

B.