Word-Hoard...Nitpicker

Barb and Maggie brought up this term wondering its origin. As usual I've been having fun delving into language. According to the Wikipedia article on "nitpicking," this means removing lice from hair: "A slow and laborious process, as the root of each individual hair must be examined for infestation."

"Nit" is derived from the Old English hnitu meaning "louse egg." Of course, nitpicker has come to mean one overly concerned with unimportant details (unimportant to whom, I ask!).  One of the usage examples in the Oxford English Dictionary from 1672 is this: "The scold...stretched up her hands with her two thumb-nails in the nit-cracking posture." That's an interesting image and it led me from "scold" to "scold's bridle." (If you go to Google images and type in Scold's Bridle Medieval you find a variety of examples.)

"Scold" is derived from Old Norse skald meaning poet and author of insulting poems. In English it means a woman who uses loud abusive speech and who always finds fault. The bridle, or branks, was used in the Middle Ages as a device of punishment for such women. It was an iron muzzle in an iron frame that fit over the head. The bridle bit was about two inches long with spikes that pressed into the tongue.  Some had a bell that rang while the woman was paraded by leash in town.

I'm certainly glad that I didn't live then! There is a mystery novel by Minette Walters titled The Scold's Bridle which the victim is wearing when found. I read it when it first came out in 1994. That was how I first became aware of such a device. And I suppose "nitpicker" and "scold" do have an association. Fascinating!