VOA词汇掌故2023--Make Your Home 'Spick-and-Span'

Make Your Home 'Spick-and-Span¹'

And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.

On this program, we explore words and expressions in the English language. We give definitions, examples, and notes on usage². And sometimes we use them in conversations.

Today, we talk about an expression to describe something, like a home, a vehicle, or an extremely clean object. The expression is spick-and-span.

Word experts are not sure where spick-and-span came from. But they agree that the expression was first used in The Diary of Samuel Pepys in 1665: "My Lady Batten walking through the dirty lane with new spick-and-span white shoes..."

If your shoes are so white and so clean, we can call them spick-and-span. We might even say they look brand spanking³ new.

If spick-and-span and brand spanking new are too long and you want to use just one word, here is a good one: immaculate. If something is immaculate, it is completely and totally clean. It is spotless, meaning it does not have one single imperfection, bad mark, or blemish⁴.

Our living spaces as well as our appearance and our clothes can be called immaculate. However, spick-and-span is commonly used to describe spaces. And an American company even smartly named their cleaning product Spic and Span. That is "spic" without the letter "k."

As far as usage, spick-and-span, immaculate, and spotless can be used in any situation. Brand spanking new is a bit more casual.

Now, let's hear the expression spick-and-span used in a couple of examples.

After the birthday party, my house was a disaster. So, I spent hours cleaning it, and by the end of the day, it was spick-and-span. You couldn't even tell there had been a party!

My co-worker wants everything to be immaculate. Even if I think the office is spick-and-span, she will still find something else to clean.

And that's all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories.

Practice using the expression spick-and-span the next time you want to describe something very clean.

Words in This Story

blemish – n. a mark that makes something imperfect

casual – adj. suited for ordinary or everyday use

1 span   

n.跨度，跨距，范围；vt.持续，贯穿，跨越

参考例句：

• The time span of these documents from 1954 to 2009.这些文件的时间跨度为1954年至2009年。
• The measurement span is determined by the higher and lower range values.测量量程由上限值和下限值决定。

2 usage   

n.惯用法，使用，用法

参考例句：

• I am clear about the usage of this word at last.这个词的用法我算是弄明白了。
• The usage is now firmly established.这种用法现已得到确认。

3 spanking   

adj.强烈的，疾行的；n.打屁股

参考例句：

• The boat is spanking along on the river.船在小河疾驶。
• He heard a horse approaching at a spanking trot.他听到一匹马正在疾步驰近。

4 blemish   

v.损害；玷污；瑕疵，缺点

参考例句：

• The slightest blemish can reduce market value.只要有一点最小的损害都会降低市场价值。
• He wasn't about to blemish that pristine record.他本不想去玷污那清白的过去。