Table of Contents
The word for today is…
sashay (verb) – 1. (a) To walk or proceed, especially in an easy or casual manner.
(b) To strut or flounce in a showy manner: sashaying around the dinner party in his fancy new clothes.
2. To perform the chassé in dancing.
3. To move in a sideways manner.
(noun) – 1. A chassé. (A ballet movement consisting of one or more quick gliding steps with the same foot always leading.)
2. An excursion; an outing.
3. A figure in square dancing in which partners circle each other by taking sideways steps.
Source : The Free Dictionary
Etymology : Orthographically, there’s no denying that chassé is French. It is from the French past participle of chasser, meaning “to chase,” and it danced into English in the beginning of the 19th century. As the word gained popularity in America, people often had difficulty pronouncing and transcribing its French rhythms. It wasn’t long before sashay had begun to appear in print in American sources. Authors such as Mark Twain, Zora Neale Hurston, and John Updike have all since put their names on the word’s dance card and have enjoyed the liveliness and attitude sashay adds to descriptions of movement. They and many, many others have helped sashay slide away from its French dance origins to strut its stuff in descriptions of various walks and moves.
