spick-and-span

Meaning

Adjective

• Clean, spotless; original sense “like new”.

Origin

• + Middle English span-new ("very new") (from circa 1300 until 1800s), from Old Norse span-nyr, from spann (cognate to Old English spon, English spoon, due to old spoons being made of wood) + nyr (cognate to Old English nīewe, English new). Imitation of , for a freshly built ship. Observe that fresh woodchips are firm and light (if from light wood), but decay and darken rapidly, hence the origin of the term.