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Pic-nic

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Dr. John Anthony derives it from the Italian piccola nicchia (a small task), each person being set a small task towards the general entertainment. (French, pique-nique.)

⁂ The modern custom dates from 1802, but picnics, called ĕrănoi, where each person contributed something, and one was appointed “master of the feast,” are mentioned by Homer, in his Odyssey, i. 226.

 

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Phylactery
Phyllis
Phyllis and Brunetta
Phyllising the Fair
Phynnodderee [the Hairy-one]
Physician
Physician or Fool
Physician, heal Thyself
Physignathos [one who swells the cheeks]
Piarists
Pic-nic
Picador (Spanish)
Picards
Picaroon
Picatrix
Piccadilly (London)
Piccinists (1774–1780)
Pick
Pick Straws (To)
Pick a Hole in his Coat (To)
Pickaninny