1650: picnic Jun 21, 2019

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The word ‘picnic’ has undergone a number of changes over the centuries, both in what is means, and how it appeared. In early printed works containing this word, it referred not to people eating outside, as it usually does today, but a restaurant meal to which people brought their own wine: a ‘BYOB’ of the 17th century in some ways. It also was at one time synonymous with what we might call a ‘potluck’ today; many linguists believe that the ‘pic-‘ was in reference to picking things out. It only gained the connotations to the outdoors after the French revolution (then spelt ‘pique-nique), when the once-private public parks became open. The latter used to be believed to come from ‘nique’ meaning ‘unimportant (thing)’, but most now believe it came from ‘niche’ (‘to place’), and changed over time to rhyme with ‘pique’, evidence by the phrase “pique une niche” (“pick a place”).
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