spick-and-span

See also: spick and span

English

Alternative forms

• spic and span
• spick and span

Etymology

Originally from “new as new woodchips”

From spick-and-span-new (literally “new as a recently made spike and chip of wood”) (1570s), from spick (“nail”, variant of spike) + Middle English span-new (“very new”) (from circa 1300 until 1800s), from Old Norse span-nyr, from spann (“chip”) (cognate to Old English spón, English spoon, due to spoons' once being made of wood) + nyr (“new”) (cognate to Old English nīewe, English new). Imitation of Dutch spiksplinternieuw (literally “spike-splinter new”), for a freshly built ship. Observe that fresh woodchips are firm and light (if from light wood), but decay and darken rapidly, hence the origin of the term.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

spick-and-span (comparative more spick-and-span, superlative most spick-and-span)

1. (idiomatic) Clean, spotless; original sense “like new”.

   I mopped up the kitchen floor so it was spick-and-span.

   • 1614, Ben Jonson, Bartholomew Fair, Act 3 Scene 5 Lines 42-44:

     NIGHTINGALE (showing one of his ballads) Sir this is a spell against 'em, spick and span new, and 'tis made, as 'twere, in mine own person, and I sing it in mine own defense.

   • 1643 John Taylor, A preter-pluperfect, spick and span new nocturnall, or Mercuries weekly night-newes, Wherein the publique Faith is published, and the Banquet of Oxford Mice described (title)
   • 1665, Samuel Pepys, diary, 15 November 1665:

     My Lady Batten walking through the dirty lane with new spicke and span white shoes.

   • 1942 March, “Notes and News: Locomotive Notes”, in Railway Magazine, page 93:

     The "V4" 2-6-2 Bantam Cock is now stationed at Norwich, and its spick-and-span condition does credit to the cleaners at that shed.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:clean

Translations

clean, spotless

• Arabic: جديد‎ (ar)
• Dutch: spik en span
• Finnish: putipuhdas (fi)
• German: blitzblank (de), picobello (de)
• Hungarian: patyolattiszta (hu)
• Irish: pioctha péacadh

See also

• spick

Further reading

• Michael Quinion (January 24, 2004), “Spick and span”, in World Wide Words.