Stuff
Due to generations of
countless variables, I am a member of a group identified as suburban
Americans. Most members of our loosely defined group occasionally look
around ourselves & realize we are surrounded by more belongings than we
need. The next couple of posts are dedicated to words we use to define our stuff.
The Old French word estoffe
referred to quilted material, furniture
or provisions. It made its way into English as stuff in the 1300s,
meaning quilted material worn under chain
mail. In the 1400s stuff also began to mean material for working with in various
trades. This meaning broadened by the 1500s to the modern meaning, matter of an unspecified nature. Also in
the 1500s, the closely related word stuffing gained two meanings: material for filling cushions, & seasoned mixture used to stuff fowls before
cooking.
The literal sense of the Old
French word junc referred to rushes
or reeds, while the figurative sense meant of little value. English sailors of the 1300s re-spelled the word junke
& used it to label both old cable or
rope, & worthless stuff. The
word maintained its nautical connection in the 1800s & referred to old refuse from boats & ships, which
soon broadened to mean old, discarded
items of any kind. The term junk mail was born in 1954, junk
art showed up in 1966, & 1971 brought us the term junk
food. The word junkie, meaning drug addict, came to us in 1923. The Chinese sailing ship type of junk comes from an entirely
different root, the Malay word jong (Iarge ship), which made its
way to English through Portuguese.
Claptrap is a theater term from the 1730s. Made up of clap
& trap, it initially defined any
gimmick or trick inserted for the sole purpose of catching applause. By 1819 claptrap morphed into meaning cheap or showy language, which led to
its modern meanings, either pretentious,
insincere language, or rubbish or
unnecessary belongings.
In the 1570s the word knick-knack
was born, a reduplication of the word knack, which came to English in the
1300s meaning a deception, trick or
device. By the 1700s, knick-knack picked up the meaning toy, and from there it morphed into our
modern meaning, a cheap ornament or
unnecessary decorative item.
I find it intriguingly
honest that the words knick-knack & claptrap
both began as some sort of deception,
but now refer to the unnecessary things with which we surround ourselves. How
many of us deceive ourselves into
believing we need these things?
We derived the word tchotchke
(or chachkie) from a Yiddish word meaning trinket. It came to English in 1964. As much as I enjoy The Urban Dictionary, I typically don’t
cite crowdsourced sources. In this case, though, the Urban Dictionary’s
definition of tchotchke is too good to pass up: “…just look around your house or
someone else's and whatever you see that a burgler (sic) wouldn't steal is
probably Tchotchke.”
Good readers, I’m hoping
some etymological tchotchke above inspires you to make a comment.
Big thanks to this week’s sources: Wordnik, Etymonline, Merriam Webster, The Urban
Dictionary, & the OED.
I, too, find myself oppressed by stuff. I love the Urban Dictionary's definition of tchotchkes! I have to admit a fondness for them.
ReplyDeleteThe origin of claptrap is fascinating. It makes perfect sense. I suppose someday "clickbait" will mean the same thing.
Hi Anne, thanks for coming by again. What fascinated me about claptrap's modern definitions was that I've never heard anyone use claptrap to refer to insincere or pretentious language. Makes me wonder about geographic usage.
ReplyDeleteStuff and junk have made their intriguing way through centuries of etymology and into my house!
ReplyDeleteWOW. Maybe you've discovered etymology's metaphoric equivalent of a singularity, the theoretical back side of a black hole, where all the stuff that falls into the black hole mysteriously shows up!
ReplyDeleteYikes!!!! That's a scary thought!
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