Spic and span In english explanation

The meaning, explanation, definition and origin of the idiom/phrase "spic and span", English Idiom Dictionary ( also found in Vietnamese )

author Tommy Tran calendar 2021-03-29 12:03

Meaning of Spic and span

Spic and span American adjective

Absolutely clean and well-ordered

She always keeps her house spic and span.

Fresh and brand new

Peter just got himself a spic and span car.

Other phrases about:

shiny new
Very bright, having a smooth glossy surface
Harry spankers
Entirely new; Wholly new
clean out

1. Make the inside of something clean or tidy

2. Spend so much money on something that one now has very little left

3. Take or use all the resource or money that a person or organization has

4. Remove parts or people to improve a group or organization

brand spanking new

Used to describe something completely new

 

Origin of Spic and span

Sir Thomas North. (Image Source: FamilySearch)

This phrase is very old and the original version of it was "spick-and-span-new". This phrase appeared in Sir Thomas North's translation of Plutarch's Lives of the noble Grecians and Romanes, 1579:

"They were all in goodly gilt armours, and brave purple cassocks apon them, spicke, and spanne newe."

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TODAY
cast beyond the moon

To indulge unlikely or fantastical possibilities

Example:

He tends to cast beyond the moon, so his moniker is "dreamer".

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