Etymology of Sirsee

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, this is Amy Rourke in Grapevine, Texas.

Hi, Amy. Welcome to the show.

Thank you. I have a question for y’all about a word that I learned from my mother, and I use it from time to time, and I’ve only ever met one person in the world who knows what this means.

The word is sussie. I spell it S-U-S-S-I-E, but since I don’t even know if that’s a word, I don’t know if that’s the way it’s spelled.

But for my mother and I, we’ve always used this word to mean a small gift. Not necessarily a gift for, say, a birthday or a holiday, but sort of a just-because gift.

So I’m wondering if this is a real word or something that we made up.

And Amy, did you grow up in Texas?

I did.

And did your mother grow up in Texas?

She did.

Okay. All right. Yes, you aren’t the only people who use this word.

And the spelling that I see most often is S-I-R-S-E-E, Circe.

Oh, wow. Yeah, and it’s a small gift, especially one that you give to somebody on the spur of the moment, just like you said, you know, a little spontaneous, here’s a little Circe for you.

And the spelling difference is easily explained. You had a spelling without an R just because in many southern dialects the R disappears in certain words.

Yeah, and it’s much more spoken rather than written, so you’re going to see lots of different spellings when you do see it spelled.

But Cersei or Sussi, like that? So this is like the equivalent of a lanyap.

I don’t know that it’s exactly a lanyap. Do you use the word lanyap, Amy?

I do not know that word.

Okay. That’s usually something that somebody gives from a store.

Oh, I see. You know, you come into my store and I give you a little pencil with the store’s name on it or a calendar or something like that.

But a Cersei is more, I think of it as more between friends.

And the only thing that I can imagine that it might come from, I’ve seen it suggested that it might come from surprise.

Oh, I see. I have a little Circe, a little surprise for you.

But it’s mainly Southern and not known throughout the United States, but you will find it pop up in novels now and again.

Somebody who’s just really attentive to their local language, they’ll use it.

So, Amy, I’m curious, what kind of Circe’s do you and your mother give to each other or to other people?

Yeah, so this isn’t a car, right? This is like socks or an extra piece of…

Oh, no. This might be, you know, you’re standing in line at a grocery store and see your friend’s favorite candy or, you know, something very small, a coffee for your co-worker.

Okay. Okay. Gotcha. Perfect. A little surcy.

I’m glad to know that we didn’t make this up.

No, you didn’t at all. But you’re free to make words up if you’d like.

But, yeah.

Oh, I will get right on that. This one you share.

Spread those sussies and surcys.

I will. Make everyone happy.

Amy, thank you so much for your call.

Thanks, Amy.

Thank you. Take care now.

Bye-bye.

Bye-bye.

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