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2007-08-17 06:27:34 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference Words & Wordplay

4 answers

The word is actually spelled "ixnay". As others have noted, it is "Pig Latin" for "nix" (Rule #1 [of 2] of this pretend language = for words starting with consonants, move the consonant to the end and add "ay")

"Nix", in turn, is a variation of the German word "nichts" (meaning "nothing"), borrowed into English in the late 18th century. It has been suggested that the word "nix" when FIRST borrowed into English was deliberately chosen as a word many would not understand (since it was German), but that once people figured that out, it was necessary to further distort it (see the Straight Dope article below on "nix".) But this is just a guess.
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=ixnay
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=nix

"Nix" (and so "ixnay") actually is used in a variety of ways -- in its original sense, as a noun meaning "nothing", as a verb meaning "reject" ("he nixed the idea"), and as an adverb meaning "No!". The last is the use found in "ixnay on the ..." [the word added at the end of this is frequently turned into Pig Latin too, e.g. "ixnay on the atinlay!"
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mnix.htm
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As for this whole "PIG Latin" business -- the term, along with variations like "Dog Latin" and "Pig Greek", is to indicate that it is BAD, improper Latin... indeed, not Latin at all!

Though Pig Latin is NOW basically a children's game, or occasionally used by adults -- either to hide things from the very young, or to PRETEND to, it actually reflects something a bit more sophisticated.

The origin of all this apparently is in the use of humorous wordplays by scholars and authors, in which a Latin or Greek word or expression would be misinterpreted, so that the person ended up saying something QUITE different from what they had intended! (Of course, all this depended on at least part of the audience knowing enough of these languages to recognize the mistake.)

There are good examples of this sort of thing in Shakespeare, et.al. (A classic case is that of a "Latin scholar" in Richard Brome's 17th century play "The City of Wit", who is constantly justifying his actions with Greek and Latin proverbs which he wildly mistranslates and misapplies.)

Of course, by the time we get to what we call Pig Latin, there is no Latin to it at all!

compare:
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mpiglatin.html

2007-08-21 02:56:41 · answer #1 · answered by bruhaha 7 · 0 0

Pig Latin--where you take the first sound, move it to the end, and add (usually) a long "A" sound after it. It used to be used as a simple code, like if you wanted to say something in front of a six-year-old, but wanted to keep it secret.
So, it means "Nix." It's a negative--no, no way, hunh-uh, not in a million years, forget that idea.
It's a slang term your grandparents might have used--no one says it today.

2007-08-17 13:58:18 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

It's pig latin for "nix" which means something along the lines of "take away" or "cancel"

2007-08-17 13:34:05 · answer #3 · answered by Expat Mike 7 · 1 0

Is it a person name? Or something with a play?

2007-08-17 13:38:33 · answer #4 · answered by Tggirl 1 · 0 2

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