A picnic is a tranquil and relaxing event, an excursion or outing in which participants carry food with them and share a meal in the open air, says, which agrees with the other sources about the terms etymology and even shows a helpful map of the countries where the word originated. The word picnic is based on the verb piquer which means pick or peck with the. This french word piquenique signifies an outing with food similar to the word s meaning in english. To stave off any more comments to the contrary, this article answers a question about the origin of the word picnic. Amer, informal, childs play informal, pushover, walkover, piece of cake informal, doss brit. You will hear people state, quite matter of factly, that the origins of the word picnic come from the times of slavery and lynchings. Does english have more words than any other language. Todays happy little word was absorbed from french piquenique and then subjected to spelling simplification. Etymologist robert barnhart speculates that it could have come from a rhyming reduplication of the french word piquer meaning to pick, or peck. The idiom for the fun of it has its origin in the old english words fonne and fonnen, which preceded the 17th century english word fon.
Intermediate and advanced level grammar practice with progress tests. My research states that picnic comes from the french word piquenique and became common in the mid 18th century. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more. This somewhat rude statement may have been in use for more than one hundred years, or it may be relatively new. Although not taught in american learning institutions and literature, it is in most black history professional circles and literature that the origin of the term. Something you eat outdoors on the ground, as opposed to at a table. The word racist means someone who believes that one race is superior to another. Origin of picnic where did the word picnic come from. The whites, including families, ate from box lunches while enjoying the. Picnic is a term used by it support technicians to imply that the user, not the computer hardware or software, is causing a technical problem. A day devoted to an outdoor social gathering field day, outing informal any undertaking that is easy to do marketing this product will be no picnic. The software comprising the carefully planned interpretive routines, compilers, and other. We use cookies to enhance your experience on our website, including to.
Discord is the easiest way to communicate over voice, video, and text, whether youre part of a school club, a nightly gaming group, a worldwide art community, or just a handful of friends that want to hang out. Picnic was originally a 17th century french word, picquenique. Youve enjoyed your dinner, plates have been removed from the table, and now youre ready for dessert. Blacks, picnics and lynchings 2004 question of the month jim. Coming up with a strong marketing campaign for powdered water is not going to be a picnic, gerald. How to say picnic in german thesaurus and word tools. Tukey, the teaching of concrete mathematics in the american mathematical monthly, vol.
Blacks, picnics and lynchings 2004 question of the. The word denigrate simply means to demean with no implication as to who is being demeaned or why. It also states that the french word piquenique has an unknown origin making picnic have an unknown origin picnic. As for how the french came by this new term, it was likely invented by joining the common form of the verb piquer meaning to pick or peck.
I think its helpful to remember that the etymology of a word does not necessarily indicate its meaning. To claim that a word somehow mysteriously means x because it derived from a word meaning x is a form of the genetic fallacy. With tools at your fingertips, easily go from pen and paper to digital inking and edit intuitively. Listening and pronunciation, exam preparation and more. In this very fun word game your goal is to discover all hidden words. Enjoy hours of fun gameplay and enhance your brain and spelling skills. Do you know these versions of the 12 days of christmas. As for how the french came by this new term, it was likely invented by joining the. I quickly discovered that the origins of the word picnic dated back to before the 18th century. It also states that the french word piquenique has an unknown origin making picnic have an unknown origin. Learning where words in a language originated can tell us a lot about early influences on a society. The computer sense is a separate coinage from 1960, based on hardware. Vocabulary exercises help you to learn synonyms, collocations and idioms.
Interesting fact the idiom for the fun of it has its origin in the old english words fonne and fonnen, which preceded the 17th century english word fon. As shown in the mw definition, the meaning in todays english has nothing to do. Picnic definition of picnic by the free dictionary. It may be used as a verb but english suffixes beginning on a vowel cannot be directly attached to a final c. The first usage of the word was traced to a 16th century french text, describing a group of people dining in a restaurant who brought their own wine.
The phrase for the fun of it means just for the entertainment value of doing it. World wide words tries to record at least a part of this shifting wordscape by featuring new words, word histories, words in the news, and the curiosities of native english speech. Picnic microsoft word templates are ready to use and print. I will leave you with dispelling one story that has seemed to attach itself to the picnic folklore. Word origin in the english language, for example, indicates that this culture originated from many others. The etymology of a word refers to its origin and historical development. To denigrate someone does not mean to blacken that person. Definition of picnic picnicked, picnicking in the dictionary. Whether or not you can find or imagine racist overtones in a word, its origins do not. Blacks, picnics and lynchings 2004 question of the month jim crow museum.
Picnic began life as a 17thcentury french word it wasnt even close to being an american invention. He suggests to compensate for this to make usable systems, thus allowing a higher percentage of users to complete tasks without errors. The term is used to describe a computer user who is the cause of a computerrelated problem but insists there is a technical problem with the computer system. Information about picnic in the dictionary, synonyms and antonyms. As for how the french came by this new term, it was likely invented by joining the common form of the verb piquer. Word origin definition of word origin by the free dictionary.
This site contains various terms related to bank, insurance companies, automobiles, finance, mobile phones, software, computers,travelling, school, colleges, studies, health and other terms. What is the origin of picnic my research states that picnic comes from the french word piquenique and became common in the mid 18th century. Is it true that the word picnic originally came from the word pickanig or pickanigger. The french piquer may have referred to a leisurely style of eating pick. This reference page can help answer the question what are some adjectives commonly used for describing picnic. Jul 01, 2006 the first usage of the word was traced to a 16th century french text, describing a group of people dining in a restaurant who brought their own wine. Picnicking definition, an excursion or outing in which the participants carry food with them and share a meal in the open air. Technical support slang term for problem in chair, not in computer. Computer dictionary definition of what picnic problem in chair not in computer. Jan 30, 2014 the word picnic originated with the french phrase repas a piquenique picnic meal and may have derived from the verb piquer to pickpeck. A reposeful repast in the open air, an outdoor meal. The etymology of the word picnic does not suggest racist or racial overtones. Picnic history the history of picnics and picnicking.
The word was borrowed from the french word picquenique 1692 which is of uncertain origin. Interesting fact no one really knows the origin of the idiom no thanks to you. Each word below can often be found in front of the noun picnic in the same sentence. Why do we call it picnic and what are the words origins. Synonyms antonyms definitions examples parts of speech. Proper usage and audio pronunciation plus ipa phonetic transcription of the word picnic. The word comes from the french word piquenique, whose earliest usage in. See picnic in the oxford advanced american dictionary. Word origin a view of world history word origin study is a fascinating way to discover the history of language and of a people. Get all the information you need as you write without leaving word, whether its a teammates. Published by dragon systems software limited, 5 bank street, malvern, wr14 2jg, united kingdom. We need to keep in mind that todays good word changes shape when suffixes are attached. Just swipe the letters to form words and complete the puzzles. Picnic definition, an excursion or outing in which the participants carry food with them and share a meal in the open air.
The way in which the idiom is used demonstrates the elusive nature of fun itself something experiential, inherently pleasant, and typically far from routine. This french word piquenique signifies an outing with food similar to the words meaning in english. Etymology is also the term for the branch of linguistics that studies word histories. Still, most people think of picnics as extremely pleasurable, accounting for its second meaning above.
That setting alludes to the origin of the word dessert. The term was used to describe a group of people dining in a restaurant who brought their own wine. Top synonym for picnic another word for picnic is cinch. Instead, the origin on the word picnic is french piquenique and was invented long before the atrocities towards blacks took place in america. The concept of a picnic long retained the connotation of a meal to which. Some claim that picnic is derived from lynching parties of blacks. Entering the english language around 1750, it was used variously to describe an outdoor meal or an assort.
People often mean prejudiced when they use the word racist. There is no evidence that the origin of the word traces back to lynchings of africanamericans. There is absolutely nothing to the story that picnic has racist, and murderous, origins. The word picnic is based on the verb piquer which means pick or peck with the rhyming nique meaning thing of little importance. Factchecking the myth that the word picnic is racist politifact. Have you heard about a computer certification program but cant figure out if its right for you. Specious etymologies seem to be all the rage of late, and a dubious claim about the origin of the word picnic fits that trend.
Apparently, a black person was randomly picked and hanged for the entertainment of whites. Every single item in that picnic basket had a reason, no matter how trivial, to be there. The word came from the french desservir, meaning to clear the table. You might also like some similar terms related to picnic to know more about it. Joel spolsky points out that users usually do not pay full attention to the computer system while using it.