Make Your Home 'Spick-and-Span'

2023-08-20

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1
  • And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.
  • 2
  • On this program, we explore words and expressions in the English language.
  • 3
  • We give definitions, examples, and notes on usage.
  • 4
  • And sometimes we use them in conversations.
  • 5
  • Today, we talk about an expression to describe something, like a home, a vehicle, or an extremely clean object.
  • 6
  • The expression is spick-and-span.
  • 7
  • Word experts are not sure where spick-and-span came from.
  • 8
  • 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..."
  • 9
  • If your shoes are so white and so clean, we can call them spick-and-span.
  • 10
  • We might even say they look brand spanking new.
  • 11
  • 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.
  • 12
  • It is spotless, meaning it does not have one single imperfection, bad mark, or blemish.
  • 13
  • Our living spaces as well as our appearance and our clothes can be called immaculate.
  • 14
  • However, spick-and-span is commonly used to describe spaces.
  • 15
  • And an American company even smartly named their cleaning product Spic and Span.
  • 16
  • That is "spic" without the letter "k."
  • 17
  • As far as usage, spick-and-span, immaculate, and spotless can be used in any situation.
  • 18
  • Brand spanking new is a bit more casual.
  • 19
  • Now, let's hear the expression spick-and-span used in a couple of examples.
  • 20
  • After the birthday party, my house was a disaster.
  • 21
  • So, I spent hours cleaning it, and by the end of the day, it was spick-and-span.
  • 22
  • You couldn't even tell there had been a party!
  • 23
  • My co-worker wants everything to be immaculate.
  • 24
  • Even if I think the office is spick-and-span, she will still find something else to clean.
  • 25
  • And that's all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories.
  • 26
  • Practice using the expression spick-and-span the next time you want to describe something very clean.
  • 27
  • Until next time ... I'm Anna Matteo.