PERNICKETY

[Dr. Goodword]

• pernickety •

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

Part of Speech: Adjective

Meaning: [Slangy] 1. (US) Fussy or exacting about details, fastidious, 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: o 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 of Norway, who suggested today's Good Word two years ago, and Susan Ardith Lee, who reminded me of it only recently.)

[call_copse]

To be honest I would have put good money on pernickety being the commonly used version in the persnickety / pernickety debate. I could barely recall an instance of persnickety being read or heard and think I put it down to malapropism if I did catch it in the wild.

But then I never knew that Americans called buoys 'boo-ees' (in standard English it is pronounced as boy).

[Stargzer]

Well, in some boating areas the rest rooms (loos) will have signs that say "Buoys" and "Gulls." One of my wife's cousins said she was in a bar one time where the signs showed two different dogs in two different stances: Pointers and Setters.

Then there's the Macaroni Grill, an Italian restaurant chain nearby. On the inside of the Men's room door is a sign that says Women, making one stop and wonder, "Did I go in the wrong door by mistake?" No, I don't know what's in the Women's room. Presumably, Women.

[misterdoe]

Good thing the Good Doc isn't perSnickety about reply threads staying on topic!

[Stargzer]

Well, if one is replying to something said in a post, then one IS on topic, n'est-ce pa?

Topics do tend to wander here, often into interesting areas.

[misterdoe]

I know, I just saw a chance to throw a Good Word into the mix.

[Stargzer]

Always a worthwhile endeavor!

[Slava]

Now, if only we could get a few more live bodies to join us here, life would be good.

[call_copse]

Well, in some boating areas the rest rooms (loos) will have signs that say "Buoys" and "Gulls." One of my wife's cousins said she was in a bar one time where the signs showed two different dogs in two different stances: Pointers and Setters.

Then there's the Macaroni Grill, an Italian restaurant chain nearby. On the inside of the Men's room door is a sign that says Women, making one stop and wonder, "Did I go in the wrong door by mistake?" No, I don't know what's in the Women's room. Presumably, Women.

Nice story. Does buoys and gulls work with the US pronounciation though?

I have a client who actually has a 'secret' back entrance where if you are not careful you suddenly find yourself in the ladies. Slightly embarassing to find yourself carrying a plate of sandwiches out of the ladies loos (as a gent obviously!).

[skinem]

Well, in some boating areas the rest rooms (loos) will have signs that say "Buoys" and "Gulls." One of my wife's cousins said she was in a bar one time where the signs showed two different dogs in two different stances: Pointers and Setters.

Then there's the Macaroni Grill, an Italian restaurant chain nearby. On the inside of the Men's room door is a sign that says Women, making one stop and wonder, "Did I go in the wrong door by mistake?" No, I don't know what's in the Women's room. Presumably, Women.

Nice story. Does buoys and gulls work with the US pronounciation though?

Still works...the pronunciation you cited (boo-ey) is not universal in the US...you hear both. It seems that as a young boy I heard buoy pronounced "boy" more than now...don't know if that's due to change over time or change due to geography.

As I get older I become more convinced few pronunciations are universal...sigh.

[LukeJavan8]

Now, if only we could get a few more live bodies to join us here, life would be good.

I certainly hope the 8-9 people from the
site "that shall not be named" help ! (Now that that
Voldemort is dead.)

[beck123]

Of course he is. Otherwise, he would be Voldequick or some such.

[beck123]

Getting back on track, I've never heard anyone on the East Coast of the U.S. say pernickety without the "s." If the the "s" has provenance going back over 110 years (longer, in fact, than the original existed without it,) is it being a bit persnickety to long for the older pronunciation of a word made from whole cloth in the first place?

[LukeJavan8]

I think the 'S" should be in it. I like the way it "slurs".
I've never heard of the word without the "s".
Evolution (or devolution?) of words.

[skinem]

Personally, I prefer to try to adhere to original, or perhaps a more accurate word would be, "proper" pronunciation. Sure, there is (de)evolution in word pronunciation and usage, but to not rail against it will just lead to more words improper usage or pronunciation becoming accepted making us a more and more 'laxadaisical" as a society.

(Before someone snarkily points out "laxadaisical" isn't correct...I know. It's a common mispronunciation that is becoming all too common.)