A.Word.A.Day --grig

A.Word.A.Day

About | Media | Search | Contact

Home

Today's Word

Yesterday's Word

grig

PRONUNCIATION:

(grig)

MEANING:

noun:
1. A cricket or grasshopper.
2. A small or young eel.
3. A lively or lighthearted person.

ETYMOLOGY:

The word is often used in the phrase "merry as a grig". The word is of uncertain origin, though various theories have been suggested, such as a corruption of "merry as a cricket" or "merry as a Greek", as in Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida: "Then she's a merry Greek indeed."

USAGE:

"When all is reversed and we shall be like the insane, to whom the antics of the sane seem the crazy twistings of a grig."
E.B. White; Removal; 1938.

"I walked into my local branch of Boots the Chemist as merry as a grig, with a twinkle in my eye and an annoying whistle on my lips."
The Weasel; Independent (London, UK); Jun 8, 1996.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

If your morals make you dreary, depend on it they are wrong. -Robert Louis Stevenson, novelist, essayist, and poet (1850-1894)

We need your help

Help us continue to spread the magic of words to readers everywhere

Donate

Subscriber Services
Awards | Stats | Links | Privacy Policy
Contribute | Advertise