At 08:51 AM 11/11/2003 -0500, you wrote: >So then the "nacks" could be a metaphor for the kind of "breathlessness" >experienced in a passionate encounter.
No need to reach so far: 3. concr. An ingenious contrivance; a toy, trinket, trifle, <http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/crossref?xrefed=OED&xrefword=knick-knack>KNICK-KNACK. ? Obs. 1540 HEYWOOD Four P.P. in Hazl. Dodsley I. 349 Needles, thread, thimble, shears, and all such knacks. 1596 SHAKES. Tam. Shr. IV. iii. 67 Why 'tis a cockle or a walnut-shell, A knacke, a toy, a tricke, a babies cap: Away with it. a1677 BARROW Serm. (1683) II. vii. 104 Springs, and wheels, and such mechanick knacks. 1715 tr. C'tess D'Aunoy's Wks. 557 A Thousand pretty Knacks..which she made with Fish-Bones and Shells, with Reeds and Rushes. 1825 LAMB Elia Ser. II. Superannuated Man, All the glittering and endless succession of knacks and gew~gaws. 1863 COWDEN CLARKE Shaks. Char. xiv. 360 The pedlar's knacks and gaudy trash [Wint. T. IV. iv.] absorb Mopsa's whole gloating vision. Check the third verse of the song, which lists some of the pedlar's kncks: "pins, points, laces and gloves." ********************************* Caroline Usher DCMB Administrative Coordinator 613-8155 Box 91000 --
