Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

I am a circuit court judge and the court reporters often ask me about the spelling of certain words.

Another judge uses the phrase: "It means siccum to me", using "siccum" to mean "nothing", like "bupkis" or "diddly squat".

Anyone know the correct spelling of siccum and/or its derivation?

By the way, court reporters all seem to be extremely interested in words and their usage, and your former host, Richard Lederer, used to write articles for the court reporters' magazine.

Judge James Babbitt