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  • Hi this is Tutor Nick P and this is Adjective Phrase 30. The adjective phrase

  • today is spick-and-span. Okay. Let's take a look at the note. If someone says

  • something is spick and span or they want something to look

  • spick-and-span, they want it to be spotlessly clean almost to look as if

  • it were brand-new. You know, like just bought brand new. Okay. Let's continue. In

  • the US. a famous detergent is named Spic and Span

  • too. So for the same idea. They named it that because you know, they're trying to

  • suggest that if you use that detergent things will look spick and span.

  • Completely clean or totally clean. Okay. Let's continue. The term originally

  • used to be spic and span new. Actually, you know, hundreds of years ago. The word spic

  • in this expression came from Dutch to mean a nail or a spike from an old Dutch

  • word spikesplinternew. Or you could almost see a spike like a nail. Splinter is

  • like wood. A wood splinter new. So like again, the idea of like a brand new ship.

  • In Dutch, this meant a freshly built ship of nails and timber. So it was brand new.

  • You know, not used yet. You know it was completely clean at that time. Probably

  • not for very long , but at that time it was completely new and completely clean.

  • Okay. The word span or span-nyr came from Old Norse. Okay. Which meant a chip

  • of wood. Okay. That was just carved. The two terms came together to mean

  • completely new, clean and spotless. Okay. Good. So you can see how it all came

  • together to mean completely. You know, completely clean as almost as if it were

  • brand new. All right. And we just have three examples to cover these here.

  • Number one. I want this floor looking spick and span.

  • Yeah. Actually I kind of heard... I remember hearing some people say this. Or

  • number two. After New Year cleaning, everything was spic and span. So but they

  • cleaned it up really well, especially in Asia. They do a New Year cleaning and

  • they try to clean everything up for the new year to have it. You know bright and

  • shiny and completely clean. Okay. Good and number three here. He

  • looked all spick-and-span in his brand new uniform. So sometimes we could use it

  • about clothes that look ... that looks so good that they look like they are just

  • brand new. Okay. Good. Anyway I hope you got it. I hope it was clear. Thank you for your time.

  • Bye-bye.

Hi this is Tutor Nick P and this is Adjective Phrase 30. The adjective phrase

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