ˈcrinkum-ˈcrankum, n. (a.)
Also crincum-crancum.
A word applied playfully to anything full of twists and turns, or intricately or fancifully elaborated. Cf. gim-crack, knick-knack.
In first quot. app. a meaningless euphemism (cf. prec.). In quot. 1761 = crinkle-crankle.
| [16.. Old Rime in Blount Law Dict. 1670 s.v. Free-bench, Here I am..Like a Whore as I am. And for my Crincum Crancum Have lost my Binkum Bankum.] 1761 Colman & Garrick Cland. Marriage ii. ii. (L.) Here's none of your straight lines here—but all taste—zigzag—crinkum-crankum—in and out. 1778 F. Burney Evelina (1794) I. 105 We shall see some crinkum-crankum or other for our money. 1793 Burns Let. to Thomson Aug., That crinkum-crankum tune, ‘Robin Adair’. 1840 Hood Up the Rhine 103 All sorts of engine-turning, and filagree-work, and crinkum-crankum. 1864 Sat. Rev. 10 Dec. 731/2 Those scientific crinkum-crankum hives, from which bees with difficulty get out, and with more difficulty get in. |