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prettygoodwordsuccuss (suh-KUHS) - v., to shake (something) vigorously.
The place where I found this insists that it's specifically "shake to determine the contents (of something)," but most dictionaries leave it as above. While it is tempting to jump to the idea of shaking presents ("it don't bark, don't bite, don't cry when I shake it"), the original sense was medical -- to shake a patient to determine if there is, for example, fluid in the thorax or elsewhere. It's also still used in homeopathy for vigorously shaking a remedy. Adopted in the early 1860s from Latin succussus, past participle of succutere, to toss up, from sub-, in the sense of away + quatere, to shake.
---L.
The place where I found this insists that it's specifically "shake to determine the contents (of something)," but most dictionaries leave it as above. While it is tempting to jump to the idea of shaking presents ("it don't bark, don't bite, don't cry when I shake it"), the original sense was medical -- to shake a patient to determine if there is, for example, fluid in the thorax or elsewhere. It's also still used in homeopathy for vigorously shaking a remedy. Adopted in the early 1860s from Latin succussus, past participle of succutere, to toss up, from sub-, in the sense of away + quatere, to shake.
---L.
