Thing Possibly To Do Today: swizzle.

If you're in America then the chances are that you'll do your swizzling with a swizzle stick, for in America a swizzle is any unshaken cocktail, and a swizzle stick is the thing used to stir it. It makes the cocktail extra fizzy, as well as mixing it.

That's all straightforward enough.

In Britain, though, you have to be a bit careful about swizzling, because in Britain a swizzle is the same as a swiz - and a swiz is a swindle or a cheat or disappointment, or at the least something blatantly unfair.

It's the sort of word a child might use, but even an adult might use it in the face of extreme adversity, such as being cheated by the arrival of a mother-in-law of a pleasure such as watching the football. 

Or perhaps the word swizzle might be used if you discovered the money-off petrol voucher only works after midnight on a Tuesday if you're already registered on a website that requires you to divulge your bank details, dress size, and insurance provider.

The Word Den recommends that all swizzling is done with sticks. 

Because, obviously, anything else is just mean.

Thing Possibly To Do Today: swizzle. The origin of this word is mysterious, but as far as the cocktail is concerned might well have something to do with the words swirl and fizz.