Where does “smal som en sticka” come from?
smal som en sticka (Swedish) comes from Swedish söm, from Swedish -nad, from Old Norse -naðr, from Old Norse -aðr, from Proto-Norse -ᛟᚦᚢᛉ, from Proto-Germanic -ōdaz, from Proto-Indo-European -tós — Creates verbal adjectives from verb stems.
smal som en sticka (Swedish): as thin as a splinter, as thin as a rake (very thin, usually of a person)
Definitions
- as thin as a splinter, as thin as a rake (very thin, usually of a person)
Ancestry of “smal som en sticka”, step by step
smal som en sticka traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via Swedish söm
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Swedish | söm | seam |
| 2 | Swedish | -nad | suffix used to create nouns, particularly from... |
| 3 | Old Norse | -naðr | suffix used to create nouns, particularly from... |
| 4 | Old Norse | -aðr | suffix used to create adjectives meaning “having,... |
| 5 | Proto-Norse | -ᛟᚦᚢᛉ | — |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | -ōdaz | Forms adjectives from nouns, indicating the... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -tós | Creates verbal adjectives from verb stems |