Smithereens

In Irish, smidirín is the diminutive of smiodar (small fragment) — it means 'a tiny, tiny piece.' The '-ín' ending is the Irish diminutive, like '-ito' in Spanish. Smidirín is an itty-bitty fragment.

Irish immigrants in the 18th and 19th centuries brought the word to America and England. 'Smithereens' is an Anglicization of smidirín — the spelling changed, but the meaning persisted: something reduced to tiny pieces.

The phrase 'blown to smithereens' became standard English idiom. There's something satisfying about the word — it sounds like what it means. You can almost hear the explosion in the syllables.

Today 'smithereens' appears almost exclusively in the phrase 'blown to smithereens.' It's a fossil: a word that only survives in one expression, carrying its Irish origin like a hidden passenger.