»pernickety

Pernickety is the original and Scots spelling of the word many spell as persnickety: "characterized by excessive precision and attention to trivial details". Pernickety is itself of uncertain origin, and may be an extended form of Scot. pernicky, itself perhaps a corruption of particular. The s probably crept in for euphony; I don't know whether the American tongue deals more readily with the sibiliant intervening, as compared to the prickly sound of the Scots. I can feel my lip curling in a sneer each time I say it.