Is it Nicked or Knicked?

[Sam]

Knicked for stolen, nicked for cut in a small way; or, nicked for stolen, nicked for cut in a small way if you are a colonial...

There is no such word as 'knicked' in the dictionary.

It's both 'nicked' for having stolen something, and 'nicked' for having made an indentation in something.

[PiP]

Please restrict comments to the question in hand: Is it Nicked or Knicked?

[moderan]

No-one should be above being corrected when in the wrong and two wrongs never ever make a right. No is one wrong a justification for certain behaviours especially by someone who is supposed to be a leader.

Your honor, this is predicated on the mistaken assumption that you are correct and everyone else is wrong. Sorry PIP.

[moderan]

There is no such word as 'knicked' in the dictionary.

It's both 'nicked' for having stolen something, and 'nicked' for having made an indentation in something.

Agreed. I have never ever seen it spelled 'knicked' in reference to either.

[BlancoMeow]

There's an app for that. It's called Google. Just type, 'nicked' into the search bar and you would already have your answer. BTW, it's nicked.

Came he from google for this question. What a lovely way to introduce new users to the forum for what I assume is a common question. I always spell it knicked.

[Guard Dog]

"No results found for knicked"

https://www.dictionary.com/misspelling?term=knicked


G.D.

[Olly Buckle]

The K at the beginning of a word was a feature of Old English. It was sounded then, but became silent during the fifteenth century, although the spelling remained, so one approach would be to look at how old the origins of the word are. If it is not from Old English then the variants with an added k are presumably a fanciful addition, if it is then they may well represent the original and the absence of the k be a modern variant. It does not really matter though, it is clear that both, or either, are used at times, which usage gives both validity.

[Guard Dog]

So you're saying people are just getting their knickers in a knot for nothing, Olly?



G.D.

[Olly Buckle]

What I am really saying is that it is usage that gives a spelling or meaning validity, and as both seem to be in common usage, depending on the dictionary you pick …

It reminds me of my youth, when people used 'nice' in the sense of being pleasant or agreeable they would be picked up and told that it meant 'precise', as in a 'nice argument'. You never hear either nice or argument used in that sense anymore, or I don't. It is a pointless exercise trying to put the clock back, language is full of change and development, writing has slowed it down a bit, but it is still inevitable.