picnic English · revision 39577

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=1748, Lord Chesterfield, letter of 29 October}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈpɪknɪk/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|pique-nique]] (also written [[m|fr|piquenique]]),^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MWU 2024) and the OED thinks it may partly have come through [[de|Picknick]], which is itself from French.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024) The French word is recorded in 1694 in the phrase [[m|fr|repas à piquenique]], and by 1718 for a meal at which everyone paid or brought a share;^(OED 2026) Barnhart dates it to 1692,^(Barnhart 1995) and Etymonline finds it first in 1649 as the name of a character in a satirical poem about a drinking club.^(Etymonline) Its origin is uncertain:^(Barnhart 1995)^(Collins 2023)^(SOED 2002) it is probably formed on [[m|fr|piquer|t=to pick, peck]] with a rhyming second element,^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Klein 1966) perhaps [[m|frm|nique|t=nothing at all, a trifle]],^(OED 2026)^(AHD 2024)^(MWU 2024)^(Cresswell 2021) which Hoad compares with the phrase [[m|fr|faire la nique|t=to mock]].^(Hoad 1986) Klein compares the rhyming [[m|fr|pêle-mêle]] behind [[pell-mell]].^(Klein 1966)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A fashionable social gathering to which every guest brought a share of the food, not necessarily held out of doors: 1748, in Lord Chesterfield's letters to his son.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) The thing itself seems to have been rare in England before about 1800,^(Etymonline) and Weekley notes that early English examples are often spelled ''pique-nique'' and printed in italics as a foreign word.^(Weekley 1921)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The shared party soon gave way to the outdoor meal, and both senses already existed in French.^(Cresswell 2021)^(Ayto 2005) By the early 19th century the OED's sense was an informal meal eaten outside, often on an excursion;^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) the old sense is now obsolete.^(OED 2026) In 1802 the Pic-Nic Society, a London club, gave the word to its members.^(OED 2026) From 1803 to 1836 a ''picnic'' could also be a miscellany with many contributors.^(OED 2026) In American colloquial use ''picnic'' came to mean an enjoyable or easy experience (1870), especially in the negative ''no picnic'' (1884);^(OED 2026)^(HTOED) in Australian and New Zealand English it was used ironically for a hard time or a source of trouble (1896),^(OED 2026) a sense that Collins still records as chiefly Australian.^(Collins 2023) In North America a ''picnic'' is also a cut of pork from the shoulder, short for ''picnic ham'' (1910).^(OED 2026) The verb, to have a picnic, appears in 1815 in a letter by Fanny Burney,^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024) though Etymonline dates it to 1842;^(Etymonline) it keeps a ''k'' before endings such as ''-ing'' and ''-ed'' to preserve the hard sound of the ''c''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1748 – a social gathering to which each guest brought food.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1802 – a member of the Pic-Nic Society.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1803 – a miscellany or collection with many contributors (until 1836).^(OED 2026)

+ * 1815 – the verb, to have a picnic;^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024) 1842 in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1821 – the verb, to provide a meal by contributions.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1870 – (US, colloquial) something pleasant or easy.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1884 – ''no picnic''.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1896 – (Australia, New Zealand) a hard time.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1910 – (North America) a cut of pork shoulder.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[excursion]] on which people take food to eat in the open air.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # An informal [[meal]] eaten outdoors: ''We had a picnic on the riverbank.''^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # (informal) An easy or pleasant experience, mostly in the negative ''no picnic'': ''Moving house with three children is no picnic.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # (informal, chiefly Australian) A troublesome situation.^(Collins 2023)

+ # (North America) A cut of [[pork]] from the shoulder, often smoked.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To have a picnic or take part in one.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[picnicker]]

+ * [[picnicky]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pique]]

+ * [[pick]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}