A growing assortment of words and definitions used in the Early Modern era. See the Guide for more information.
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Snickersnee
This was originally the phrase stick or snee, snick or snee, to thrust or cut. It was from Dutch steken, to thrust + snijen (German schneiden), to cut. Hence snick or snee, snick and snee, to thrust and cut, to fight with knives -- as was common among Dutch sailors, 16th to 18th centuries. Hence snickasnee, a combat with cut-and-thrust knives; a knife for such a combat. Snick or snee was altered in the 18th century into snickersnee, a knife-combat, or the knife; Washington Irving used the word in FATHER KNICKERBOCKER'S HISTORY OF NEW YORK (1809); in THE MIKADO (1885) Gilbert has: As I gnashed my teeth When from its sheath I drew my snickersnee. The word snick, in addition to meaning to cut and to hit, a cut, a slight blow, also meant a sudden noise, a click, and was a variant form of sneck, q.v. A snickle was a noose, as was a snick-up. A snick-snarl was a knot, a tangle (17th century) in a thread or the thread of an argument.
