"Fillip"

       Yesterday's post found me using a word I hadn't in a long time.   A "fillip" is a small stimulus, perhaps a trifle, an embellishment.

       What I didn't know is what it came from.  It is imitative of either of two things according to different sources:  1.  curling a fingernail up against the thumb and releasing suddenly, a flip or flick against someone's arm, for example, or to propel a small object; or, 2.  a snap made by pressing the flesh of the fingertip against the thumb.

       So the "extended," more abstract meaning derives from something quite concrete and physical and the sound(s) it makes.

       Most delightful was a quote from Byron that the OED was clever enough to find and give us:  "Eat, drink, and love; the rest's not worth a fillip."