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A.Word.A.Day--ticky-tacky

ticky-tacky (TIK-ee-tak-ee) noun

Shoddy material, as for the construction of standardized housing.

ticky-tacky adjective

1. Made of shoddy material; cheaply built.

2. Marked by a mediocre uniformity of appearance or style. Tawdry; tacky.

[Reduplication of tacky.]

"And while the actress does not receive entrance applause when she walks onto the wonderfully ticky-tacky hotel-room set in the Vineyard Theater, it's not hard to envision a future stage appearance when that might change." Peter Marks, 'The Batting Cage': Veanne Cox Takes Comic Lead, New York Times, 18 Nov 1997

This week's theme: reduplicatives.

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