quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- cracker-jack (n.)[cracker-jack 词源字典]
- also crackerjack, "something excellent," 1893, U.S. colloquialism, apparently a fanciful construction, earliest use in reference to racing horses. The caramel-coated popcorn-and-peanuts confection was said to have been introduced at the World's Columbian Exposition (1893). Supposedly a salesman gave it the name when he tasted some and said, "That's a cracker-jack," using the then-popular expression. The name was trademarked 1896. The "Prize in Every Box" was introduced 1912.
"Your brother Bob is traveling, isn't he?"
"Yep. He's with one of the big racing teams. I tell you, he's a cracker-jack! Wins a bushel of diamonds and gold cups every week."
["Life," Aug. 1, 1895]
[cracker-jack etymology, cracker-jack origin, 英语词源] - fussbudget (n.)
- "nervous, figety person," 1884, from fuss (n.) + budget (n.). One of several similar formulations around this time: Compare fussbox (1901); fusspot (1906). From 1960s associated with the character Lucy in the newspaper comic strip "Peanuts."
- peanut (n.)
- 1807; see pea + nut. Earlier ground nut, ground pea (1769). The plant is native to South America; Portuguese traders took peanuts from Brazil and Peru to Africa by 1502 and it is known to have been cultivated in Chekiang Province in China by 1573, probably arriving with Portuguese sailors who made stops in Brazil en route to the Orient. Peanut butter attested by 1892; peanut brittle is from 1894. Peanut gallery "topmost rows of a theater" is from 1874, American English; peanuts "trivial sum" is from 1934.
- security (n.)
- mid-15c., "condition of being secure," from Latin securitas, from securus "free from care" (see secure). Replacing sikerte (early 15c.), from an earlier borrowing from Latin; earlier in the sense "security" was sikerhede (early 13c.); sikernesse (c. 1200).
Meaning "something which secures" is from 1580s; "safety of a state, person, etc." is from 1941. Legal sense of "property in bonds" is from mid-15c.; that of "document held by a creditor" is from 1680s. Phrase security blanket in figurative sense is attested from 1966, in reference to the crib blanket carried by the character Linus in the "Peanuts" comic strip (1956). - snoopy (adj.)
- 1895, from snoop (n.) + -y (2). The cartoon dog of that name in the "Peanuts" newspaper comic strip debuted in 1950.
- gorp
- "Another term for trail mix", 1970s: perhaps an acronym from good old raisins and peanuts.