Talk:smidgen

RFV discussion: November 2011
Please verify sense 2, "1/25th of a teaspoon — from the 1975 U.S Bureau of Standards" Maybe this is real, but my gut makes me very suspicious.... 124.181.113.16 08:55, 19 November 2011 (UTC)
 * what is the "U.S Bureau of Standards"? does this mean NBS (now NIST), or ANSI?
 * which 1975 standard? Can't we cite a standard number if this is real?
 * I'd say it's nonsense. Check this as an example. In order to avoid this becoming another unsolved discussion, I deleted the sense and wrote a usage note. --Hekaheka 06:10, 21 November 2011 (UTC)

possible alternate etymology?
I came across the definition below in an online Yiddish dictionary for the word סמיטשיק (pronounced 'smitshik'), which is the diminutive form for סמיק ('smik'), the bow of a stringed instrument. Note the second entry in which smitshik is used in a phrase with a meaning very akin to smidgen. I haven't tried to date the original use of this phrase, but curious about whether it might have crossed over into English as smidgen... "סמיטשיק דער (עס) סמיק1 דימ bow (of a stringed instrument) מיט אַ סמיטשיק אַריבער with a hair more, just a little bit over" © 2013 Comprehensive Yiddish-English Dictionary Tshikave (talk) 00:43, 16 September 2022 (UTC)