Wednesday, February 14, 2007

WORD A DAY

TWEE: chiefly British: affectedly or excessively dainty, delicate, cute, or quaint

Most adults won't be caught dead saying, "Oh, look a the tweet 'little birdie!" (at least not to anyone over the age of three), but they probably wouldn't be averse to saying, "He went fishing with his dad," "She works as a nanny," or "Hey, buddy, how's it going?" Anyone who uses "dad," "nanny," or "buddy" owes a debt to "baby talk," a term used for both the childish speech adopted by the adults when addressing youngesters and for the speech of small children who are just learning to talk. "Twee" also originated in baby talk, as an alteration of "sweet." In the early 1900s, it was a term of affection, but nowadays speakers of British English and, increasingly, American English use "twee" for things that have passed beyond agreeable and into the results of cloying.

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