Tiddlywinks

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈtɪdəlɪwɪŋks/

Definitions

1. A leisure game involving players flicking a piece onto a target area using a small disc
2. it often entails skill and strategy with minimal physical exertion
3. typically played on a felt or cloth surface with colorful discs of various sizes

Etymology: Joseph Assheton Fincher, a British bank clerk, patented the game on 19 October 1889, and he trademarked the name "Tiddledy-Winks" the same year. The spelling "tiddlywinks" appears first in 1894, so the name that stuck was not the one he registered. The word itself is older than the game. It is a noun built from "tiddlywink" plus the plural ending "-s", and "tiddlywink" is probably a blend of "tiddly", an informal word meaning little or tiny, and "wink", meaning a blink of one eye. That makes the name something like "little winks", describing the flick of a small disc. The source also suggests "tiddlywink" may have been borrowed from an older term for a disreputable beerhouse or pawnshop, and for a game played with dominoes, though that link is less certain. The game's equipment explains the rest. Players flick small discs, called tiddlywinks, into a pot using larger discs called squidgers, so the word names both the play and the parts. Fincher's invention turned an informal name into a formal game with rules and a trademark.