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May 27, 2025
This week’s theme
Whose what?

This week’s words
Aaron's rod
chef's kiss
rat's nest
devil's tattoo
Adam's ale

chefs_kiss
Gif: Giphy

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

chef’s kiss

PRONUNCIATION:
(chefs KIS)

MEANING:
noun:
1. A gesture made by kissing one’s fingertip(s) and thumb and spreading them outward.
2. Something or someone considered excellent or perfect.

ETYMOLOGY:
Alluding to a stereotypical Italian chef’s gesture upon tasting a flawless dish. Earliest documented use: 1975

NOTES:
The term is from the Italian gesture al bacio (as good as a kiss), typically made by a chef to express culinary triumph. It was popularized in the post-WWII US through food ads.

USAGE:
“This look was another smash hit in my opinion. Overall, this outfit was a chef’s kiss.”
Abby Jarrett; Star Wars and Nip Slips?; The Battalion (College Station, Texas); Feb 12, 2024.

See more usage examples of chef’s kiss in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Compassion is not weakness and concern for the unfortunate is not socialism. -Hubert Humphrey, US Vice President (27 May 1911-1978)

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