Sunday, November 24, 2013

Mr. Clean can't compete with this

SPICK AND SPAN

Today this means neat and tidy but originally the saying was spick and span new. A span was a wood shaving. If something was newly built it would have tell-tale wood chips so it was 'span new' spick is an old word for a nail. New spicks or nails would be shiny. However words and phrases often change their meanings over centuries and spick and span came to mean neat and tidy.

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