Adding new words to my vocabulary is something I really like to do. Since I like learning new words so much, I receive a new word each day in my email. Today’s word was spitchcock. I realize that everyone’s brain works differently, and you may have thought of something different than I did when you first saw that word. Me? I thought of Alfred Hitchcock. Did this word have anything to do with this Master of Suspense?
After forcing myself to quit trying to figure out how this word had something to do with Hitchcock, I noticed that it was both a noun and a transitive verb. For those of you who don’t know, transitive verbs use a direct object, which is a noun that receives the action of the verb.
As a noun, a spitchcock is an eel split, cut into pieces, and cooked. My first thought? Yuck! Of course, I have no idea what an eel would taste like since I’ve never even had the opportunity to try one. It could be delicious. Supposedly, it tastes like a cross between chicken and fish with a slightly sweet and salty flavor. That does sound like something I would like.
As a transitive verb, spitchcock means to treat severely: The fisherman spitchcocked an eel. Yes, the poor eel was treated severely.
Spitchcock is first recorded as being used somewhere between 1590 and 1600, and its origins are obscure. That is a shame. I would really be interested to know how the word was first made and/or used.
Spatchcock, on the other hand, is also a noun and a transitive verb. This word does not put me in mind of Alfred Hitchcock. As a noun, it is a dressed fowl that has had its backbone removed and has been split open and flattened so that it cooks more evenly when grilled, broiled, or roasted. So both words have to do with cooking. As much as I cook, I’m really surprised I didn’t know either word.
As a verb, it means to prepare and cook a dressed fowl in such a manner. It also means to insert or interpolate, especially in a forced or incongruous manner.
The usage of spatchcock, apparently an alteration of spitchcock, was first recorded in 1775-1785. The popular thought that it is a shortening of dispatch cock (from the English phrase “dispatch the cock,” which referred to the quick and easy preparation of a chicken for cooking) is specious.
Have you learned any new words recently?
