ixnay

The other morning, as I was waking up, it occurred to me that I pretty much never hear the word "nix," but I do occasionally hear the Pig Latin word "ixnay." Usually in the construction "ixnay on the [something in Pig Latin]." Like: "ixnay on the alkingtay."

I wondered whether "ixnay" is becoming an English word in its own right. Although come to think of it, I don't think I often encounter it in a non-Pig Latin context (like *"ixnay on the talking"), which seems to suggest it's not widely considered valid English.

And then I wondered whether people do still use "ixnay," or whether I've just seen it so much in older books that I think of it as common.

Anyway, I made a mental note to write an entry about this at some point, and then forgot about it.

And then a couple hours later, I came across the then-latest strip of the webcomic Darths & Droids, which used the "ixnay" construction.

And the strip's forum topic included some discussion of exactly my questions. And several of the commenters there said they've been known to use "nix" sometimes.

Also, MW11 doesn't list "ixnay" as a valid English word.

Anyway, partly I'm posting 'cause I think it's an interesting topic, but partly just because I was amused by the coincidence.