| 释义 |
pernicketyadj. Origin: Of uncertain origin. Perhaps formed within English, by derivation. Etymology: Origin uncertain; perhaps < per- prefix (compare sense 1d) + one or more elements of unknown origin. The ending was apparently sometimes analysed as showing -ed suffix1 + -y suffix1; compare the alteration in Scots to pirnicky (19th cent.), pernicky (20th cent.), and also to pernicked (19th cent.), pernicket, pernickett (both 20th cent.).Compare also Scots pirnickerie (early 19th cent.) and pernigglety (early 20th cent.), and also Scots pernicketies , pick-nickerties , plural noun (19th cent.). It has also been suggested that the word is an alteration either of perjink adj. or of particular adj. colloquial (originally Scottish). the mind > attention and judgement > good taste > refinement > fastidiousness > [adjective] 1808 J. Jamieson Pernickitie..precise in trifles; applied also to dress, denoting trimness, S. perjink synon. 1814 in (1881) 45 72/2 Dear Doctor, I received yours last night, and a..vexing, pernickety, humorous, witty, daft letter it is. a1854 E. Grant (1988) I. vii. 136 He vexed with his chronological order, and his pricknickity neatness. 1868 G. MacDonald II. 152 But Robert wadna like me to tak siller whaur I did nae wark for't... He's some pernickety, Robert. 1914 L. Woolf 12 Mar. (1990) 204 He isn't really ever very pernicketty with me, I think, because I go my own way a good deal. 1972 J. Gathorne-Hardy iv. 122 Quite such pernickety table manners..seem to me absurd. 1994 30 Mar. 30/7 (advt.) Wanted: Person with pleasant demeanour to deal with verbose, often pernickety customers in the appropriate way. the world > action or operation > difficulty > types of difficulty > [adjective] > difficult or delicate the world > action or operation > ability > skill or skilfulness > [adjective] > having or characterized by bodily skill > skilled with hands > requiring time and dexterity 1884 E. Ingersoll in May 875/2 Any white man..grows lame and impatient at such confining and pernickety work. 1892 27 Feb. 290/1 Restrictions, some of them a trifle pernickety. 1965 in (1968) VII. at Pernicketie It's pernickety work, compiling a dictionary. 2001 I. J. Deary i. 7 Those who can see small, pernickety details in pictures might be poorer when it comes to checking through lists at speed. Derivatives the mind > attention and judgement > good taste > refinement > fastidiousness > [noun] 1890 (at cited word) Pernicketiness, the character of being pernickety. 1900 15 Dec. 877 It behoves every Minister to be careful to the point of fastidiousness, or, if you will, pernickittiness. 1961 N. Lofts i. ii. 13 Such pernickitiness, she said, was a sure sign that I wasn't hungry. 2001 R. W. Cahn i. 5 The administrators of Oxford University, true to their reputation for pernicketiness, raised their collective eyebrows at the use of a plural noun, ‘materials’, in adjectival function. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022). <  adj.1808 |
