Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Top 10 Words of Summer


#8: Picnic


When we dig into picnic, we find the word pick.


Picnic comes from the French pique-nique, which probably came from piquer, meaning "to pick or peck."


The original picnic, in 18th-century England, was more like what we'd call a potluck: all the attendees would bring a dish.


And the big difference? That shared meal wasn't necessarily eaten outdoors.

1 comment:

H said...

Those English, they always have to be different, don't they?

Oh wait, maybe it's us Americans... always screwing up with the English start. Well, whatever.