密歇根新闻广播 小装饰物收集者

（单词翻译）

If you have a box filled with items of the "what am I ever going to do with this"variety, we suggest the purchase of a knick-knack¹ shelf.

A knick-knack shelf is the perfect place for a figurine of a flamingo² wearing a shirt that says "Florida" or a collection of ceramic³ animals that came free with your teabags. And how else does one properly display a commemorative royal wedding plate?

They may not be good for much, but knick-knacks can be fun to collect. But how didthey come to be known as "knick-knacks?"

"Knick-knack" is an example of reduplication. That's when all or part of a word is repeated with a slight change, like "zig zag," or "flip⁴ flop⁵." In this case, “knack” is the root word.

In its earliest meanings, a "knack" was a trick that could sometimes be deceitful. This word later takes on a more positive meaning when it comes to refer to an ingenious method or skill, and that's pretty much how we use it now: "He's got a knack for spotting valuable knick-knacks at garage sales."

By the 17th century, a knack could refer to a toy or trinket. This meaning is now obsolete⁶, and that may be because of "knick-knack," which comes into the language right around the same time.

In its earliest life a "knick-knack" could be a trick or sleight⁷, but it also comes to refer to a trinket or ornament⁸.

When Anne Curzan was researching "knick-knack," she found the synonym⁹ "gimcrack." That got us thinking of other words for the fun little trinkets so many of us collect. Curzanremembers her family calling them "tchotchkes." What do you call them.