Englishnix something
Meaning: To cancel an idea or plan; to reject or forbid something.
Example: “Management nixed the plan for a four-day week.”
Origin: "Nix" comes directly from German nichts, meaning "nothing," entering English as loanword slang by around 1789 and gradually settling into casual American use as a blunt way to say "no" or "nothing." As a verb specifically meaning to reject, veto, or cancel something outright, "nix" is documented from around 1920, with an early home in American lunch-counter slang — the same breezy, clipped jargon that gave English other short-order-cook coinages. Using a single borrowed foreign word for "nothing" as an English verb of outright rejection captures the same blunt finality either language version carries on its own.
More English idioms
- odd man out The person who is left out; the person who doesn't fit in.
- odds and ends Small items that are left over, don't match, or are missing a mate.
- off one's rocker Out of one's mind; slightly crazy.
- off the beaten path Off the road or way that is most often chosen by other people.
- off the cuff Without much advance preparation; spontaneously.
- off the wall Unusual; peculiar.
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