I’m a bit busy again today, so just popping my head in!
Quick is an interesting word: its most obvious meaning is fast, but some may not be aware that it also used to mean alive. When one considers that it came from the old English cwic, meaning alert or animated, one can see how it could branch out from there to mean either fast or alive.
One of the most common phrases that still uses the old meaning of the word is the quick and the dead. It originally comes from the Bible:
For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries: Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you: Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.1 Peter 4:3–5
The phrase cut to the quick (to deeply hurt someone, often in a personal way) also uses the word in a similar way. In this case it means a vital organ or other body part.
And if you’ve ever pondered over the fact that quicksand is actually quite slow, well, that’s because its name actually means living sand! On account of how it moves, you see.
Got to quickly go now, catch you tomorrow!
English-Language Thoughts 
And if your last name is Quick? I couldn’t resist. I know that it comes from the German word Schnell which means ‘fast’. So I’m assuming that an earlier generation changed it upon coming to America and didn’t want a German name, maybe?
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I hadn’t thought of that, maybe because we don’t get many Quicks here in Ireland! Your theory sounds convincing: “schnell” sounds unmistakenly German, so I can imagine people feeling pressure to change it.
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Quick, alive as you said, witty as you should have said or did you, a candle’s life is its quick for without a quick there will be no flame. A person that understands you is quick to you, a person that doesn’t understand you is slow to you but possibly quick to others. It is, like very many others, a great word…to be pondered to be loved, to be well thought about. When I am hurt to the quick, I’m hurt in my heart, my spleen, (a almost worthless organ) in my lungs in my kidneys and my liver. Well to be truthful, most of my liver hurts because of my best friend Al Hall (alcohol)
Quick like a bunny…yup you covered that….Fast.
Quick like the edge of my finger nail that hurts cuz I keep biting it….no I don’t think you covered that but then I have trouble staying in focus.
noun
2. the soft, tender flesh below the growing part of a fingernail or toenail.
3. those who are living:
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“when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:” Yah, I’ll go for that!
Does Mach Schnell mean very fast?
~~dru~~
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Seems like it means “Make it quick!” I’m glad you enjoy the word so much, it’s full of surprises :).
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Hi,
My sister-in-law is Irish, and I’ve been to Ireland recently, last summer.
I met you on Jason Cushman’s blog at his Meet and Greet. You indicated you were looking forward to meeting new bloggers, so I came over. Maybe you can check out my blog if you need a blogging tip or two. That’s what I write about.
Here is a link to my About page, so you can read more about my blog.
http://mostlyblogging.com/about/
Janice
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Hi Janice,
thank you for sharing your blog, it’s exactly what I’m looking for, I’m still in the early days of my blogging career! Hope you enjoyed your time in Ireland :).
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Saludos, found you on Jason’s blog. Cool post. I gotta say I hate that word as it refers to dog’s nails. My dog has a nervous breakdown every time I try to trim her nails. I’ve snipped too close to the quick many times, and it’s such a stressful situation. Oxford Dictionary should incorporate stress and maybe anxiety and maybe ptsd alongside the other definitions for ‘quick’.
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That’s a good point, speed and irritation often go together, especially for me if people are rushing too much around me. Coincidentally, my sister just had her dog’s nails trimmed, and he needed pain-relief medicine for it!
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Oh no! Pobrecito. Thanks for the follow btw. Never met a “Niall” before. How do you pronounce that?
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Just like the River Nile, though in Scotland they sometimes spell it “Niall” but pronounce it “Neil.”
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I like it 🙂
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Thanks 🙂
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[…] fast came to mean quick or quickly is a little less obvious. It probably comes from the Old Norse fast, meaning firmly, […]
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