Cheesies

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A light, crunchy snack made from extruded corn or wheat puffs coated in cheese-flavoured seasoning
2. A small, bite-sized puffed snack with a bright orange coating that tastes strongly of cheese
3. Crisp, airy corn puffs dusted with artificial cheese flavouring, often sold in packets as a children's treat

Etymology: "Cheese" came into English from Old English "cēse," itself borrowed from Latin "caseus," but the ending here is what does the work. Adding "-ie" (or "-y") to a noun is a common way in English to make a small, affectionate, or informal version of something, as with "doggie" or "birdie." Put onto "cheese," it gives a little cheese, and the plural "cheesies" names a snack made of small cheese-flavoured pieces. The word is a light, playful coinage built on a familiar base, so its story is mostly about that suffix. Its relative "cheesy," meaning tacky or second-rate, comes from a different sense of "cheese" and developed separately.

Synonyms: cheese puffs, cheese curls