The Russian language is great, multifaceted and very complex. According to the recognition of many foreigners who comprehend different dialects and dialects, it is he who is one of the most difficult to learn, and he is inferior only to Chinese and Japanese. And, like many other cultures of speech, our language has a huge number of words with an interesting etymology or history of origin. The word "finicky" is just one of those.
Origin of the word fastidious
It is believed that all words that have in their composition the letter combination "ere" or "here" (for example, birch, silver, village) are originally Russian in origin. This rule is also true in the case of the word "finicky".
The history of the Russian language has many examples when, over time, the meaning of a wordhas changed. This also applies to etymology. "Picky", disassembled into morphemes, consists of the prefix "at", the root "vered", the ending and the suffix. It is the prefix and the root of this word that will be the key not only to its origin, but also to its definition.
Thus, the word "finicky" came from the archaic word "vereda" by adding the prefix "at" to the adjective "fastidious". What does "vereda" mean?
In the old Russian language, this word meant wounds, various sores (abscesses, boils, abscesses, etc.) or simply painful sensations. And the adjective "fastidious" characterized a sickly, weak, or simply too pampered person. Accordingly, based on the origin of the word "finicky", we can say that it means "very sensitive to pain" person.
It should be noted that, since the word "vereda" is obsolete and completely out of use, the following order will be considered the correct parsing of the word in composition: the root "fussy", the suffix "liv" and the ending "oy".
By the way, the term "vered", to which the word "finicky" owes its origin, has the same etymological basis as the word "harm". In the explanatory dictionary of V. I. Both words are given similar definitions:
The term "verb" has two meanings, the first of which is to spoil things, to ruin (ruin). And the second is to dointentional evil, spoil, stir up (touch, hurt) a sore spot.
And the word "harm" is interpreted as causing evil, damage to he alth or personal injury, loss of property.
The use of the obsolete word "vered" today can only be found in literature and, possibly, dialects. So, the character of Turgenev's "Noble Nest" Ivan Petrovich whimpered and complained when he jumped up.
Meaning of the word
Today, the term is used in a completely different sense than when the word "finicky" originated. So, now this word is used in relation to a person who makes too high demands on something, or who is quite difficult to please. It is also possible to use this term when describing animals and plants that are difficult to care for.
Correct spelling and pronunciation
Difficulties in writing this word may appear due to two unverifiable unstressed vowels "i" and "e". Knowing the origin of the word "finicky", spelling should not be difficult, otherwise, if in doubt, look in the dictionary.
One more difficulty can be caused by the spelling of the suffix. To do this, it is enough to know that the suffix "liv" is written only with the letter "i" (similar to the words happy, chatty, etc.).
So, the correct spelling of the word- fastidious.
The correct pronunciation of this word is with the stress on the third, penultimate syllable: fastidious.
Synonyms and antonyms
Similar in meaning to the word "finicky" in the modern sense are such words as demanding, capricious, picky, choosy, strict, objectionable, whimsical.
Antonyms for this obsolete word are "unpretentious", "undemanding".
Usage examples
Although the meaning attached to the origin of the word "finicky" is very different from the current one, the term is widely used both in speech and in writing. In addition, this word is applied not only to people, but also to plants or animals.
Picky as a personality trait: "Our store staff will find an approach to even the pickiest of customers!". In this case, we are talking about demanding people who are difficult to please.
To describe plants that are difficult to care for: "Some fastidious flowers need to change the microclimate several times a year."
To describe the nature of animals: "Feeding some cats is sheer agony, they can be picky."
Another example is Vladimir Vysotsky's famous song: "But I came across picky horses".
Besides, the gaze can be finicky ("Her Ladyship cast a finicky look at all the sightsmistress") or a look ("In my rather fastidious look, the quality of the goods did not match the price at all").
It can also be used to describe taste: "His fastidious taste for food began early in life."
Also, the word "fastidious" can be used in the meaning of "meticulous", "corrosive": "Only the most fastidious reader will find these little inconsistencies."
