Word To Use Today: pickle:

 No, you probably don't already know all there is to know about pickles.

For a start, in North America a pickle is a small cucumber preserved in brine or vinegar (I call that a gherkin) but elsewhere a pickle is any fruit or vegetable (or, often, a mixture of the two) preserved in a thick boiled sauce of sugar and vinegar. It's something like a savoury jam.

To be in a pickle is to be in...well, in a jam, I suppose. Or a tight spot, anyway.

In Britain a pickle may also be a mischievous child.

Did you know about all those? 

Well, what about the top-secret pickle, then?

The secret pickle was the invention of Thomas Hancock, who produced the rubber masticator, a machine which chopped rubber into small pieces so that it could be re-formed and recycled (this was necessary because only freshly-cut surfaces would stick together).

Hancock chose not to patent his machine until 1837. Instead he chose to call his invention a pickle, which meant that no one at all was interested in it except for Charles Macintosh (the inventor of, yes, the mackintosh) and soon their factory was the biggest manufacturer of rubber goods in the world.

Which wasn't a pickle at all, but a happy ending!

Word To Use Today: pickle. This word might come from the Middle Dutch pekel. The German word Pökel means brine.