Question: Jewelers always seem to advertise jewelry in terms of karats and carats. What do these terms mean and what is the difference between them?Answer: The word "karat" is defined in Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary as "a unit of fineness for gold equal to 1/24 part of pure gold in an alloy." The word "carat" can be used as a variant spelling for "karat," but more commonly it signifies a unit of weight for precious stones equal to 200 milligrams. Hence, a ring might consist of a diamond of about 3 carats set in 14 karat gold. Both words derive from the Arabic word "qirat," meaning "bean pod." At one time, bean pods were used for weighing gold, with each pod weighing four grains, and four grains equaling one carat. We no longer measure gold with bean pods, but we do place a great value on its relative fineness, and we do measure gems by weight. So today's consumer is wise to know the difference between a "carat" and a "karat."
Question: Can you explain where the expression "spick-and-span" comes from?
Answer: Although the term "spick-and-span" (also spelled "spic-and-span") may sound like a borrowing from another language, it is actually an abbreviation of a very old English phrase, "spick and span new," meaning "brand new." "Spick and span new" was formed by a combination of a now obsolete English word "spick" used for a spike or nail, and the already existent term "span new," meaning "brand new." A span was a simple wood chip which at one time was used as a spoon.
"Span-new," meaning "new as a brand new wood chip," is a very old term that appeared in print as early as 1300. The words "spick and" were added about 250 years later to make "spick and span new," which first appeared in the following passage, dated 1579-1580: "They were all in goodly gilt armours, and brave purple cassocks apon them, spicke and spanne new." It has been postulated that the adjective "spick-and-span new" derived from the knowledge that a brand new ship would have had new nails and wood chip spoons. Whether or not this is true, when the expression was shortened to "spick-and-span" around 1665, it lost its connotation of newness and took on the modern meaning of "spotlessly clean and neat." The adjective "spick-and-span" remains popular today, even though we're no longer concerned with the newness of spicks and spans.
Question: We're all familiar with the phrase "round off to the nearest dollar." Since there's a choice between two dollar amounts, why not say "round off to the nearer dollar"?
Answer: The use of the superlative "nearest" in "round off to the nearest dollar" is rooted in a long tradition of using the superlative in comparisons to two objects. We say "round off to the nearest dollar" for the same reason that we say "put your best foot forward," because idiom has fixed the phrases in that form.
Although some critics have argued that the general use of the superlative (outside of fixed phrases) in comparing two things violates a basic rule of English grammar, most experts accept even this usage as established idiom. According to one source, "the use of the superlative rather than the comparative for two . . . is a fact of standard English usage and not a characteristic limited to vulgar English." The truth is that some of literature's most respected figures have adopted this usage: Shakespeare, Milton, Samuel Johnson, Jane Austen, Byron, Hawthorne, Thackeray, Emerson, and Hemingway are just a few of this group. So the next time you encounter the expression "round off to the nearest dollar," try not to cringe. This usage is a fixture of modern speech and writing and is not likely to go away.
This column was prepared by the editors of Merriam-Webster's "Collegiate Dictionary," Tenth Edition. Send questions to: Merriam-Webster's Wordwatch, P.O. Box 281, 47 Federal St., Springfield, MA 01102. (C) Merriam-Webster Inc. Dist. by Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service