smidge - From Ulster to America
Source: From Ulster to America: The Scotch-Irish Heritage of American English
Author: Michael Montgomery
Comments: From Ulster to America recounts the lasting impact eighteenth-century settlers from Ulster have made on the development of the English language of the United States. The book documents over 500 vocabulary items contributed to American English by these ‘Scotch-Irish’ settlers. Each ‘shared’ term with its meaning is authenticated by quotations from both sides of the Atlantic. This searchable online version of his book takes its text from the dictionary part of the second edition published by the Ullans Press in 2017.
smidge, smidgen, smidgeon, smitch n A small but indefinite bit or amount, as of meal, powder, grain, etc. [origin unknown; oed smidgen ‘a tiny amount, a trace’ originally and chiefly U.S.; web3 smidgen n probably alteration of smitch ‘a very small piece or portion, a little bit’, perhaps related to smit ‘a particle, bit’ Scottish and U.S.; cf snd smitch n ‘a very small amount, a speck, jot, tittle, touch, trace’]
Ulst.:
1906 Marshall Dial of Ulster 19 smitch = a touch or slight trace, a small portion.
1990 Todd Words Apart 148 Could ye just put a wee smidgeon of butther on the bread, like a good girl.
U.S.:
1909 Payne Word-list East Alabama 372 smidgen = a very small piece.
1917 Garland Son of Border 56 Two bites laid a leg of chicken as bare as a slate pencil. To us, waiting our turn, it seemed that every ‘smitch’ of the dinner was in danger.
1917 Kephart Word-list 417 at a smidge = next or near to.
1939 Hall Coll Go over an’ borry a smidgen of salt.
1940 Haun Hawk’s Done 28 But the Old Man, he set right there without moving a smidgin.
