What Strikes Your Fancy?

“Strike your fancy” is a phrase that is hard to pin down.  I did not find the exact phrase “strike your fancy.”

Word Detective says “‘fancy’ is, etymologically, the same word as ‘fantasy,’ simply in a shortened form…. Filtered through Latin and Old French, ‘fantasy’ first appeared in English in the 15th century… [When] the shortened form ‘fancy’ began to be considered a separate word in the 16th century, it took on this sense of ‘whimsical notion’… By the late 16th century, ‘fancy’ had specifically come to mean ‘taste, preference in matters of art or appearance.”  This made me think of the cat food brand “Fancy Feast.”

“Interestingly, the adjective ‘fancy-free’ originally, in the 16th century, meant ‘free from amorous entanglements,’ … but now it’s simply used to mean ‘carefree’.”  There may still be many people who would agree that love and worry go together.

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About Ponderer

Ponderer also writes science fiction and science-inspired rhyming poetry. Check her out at katerauner.wordpress.com/ She worked at Rocky Flats for 22 years - you may know her as Kathy London.