picnic

plural picnics · alternative pic-a-nic · alternative archaic picknick

1. An informal social gathering, usually in a natural outdoor setting, to which the participants bring their own food and drink.

   We went out for a picnic in the forest.

2. The meal eaten at such a gathering.
3. figurativelyAn easy or pleasant task.

   We remind the guests that dealing with this problem is no picnic, and to be patient.

   1 more example

   "Don't put your hand on me," said Uncle Henry irritably. "I'm crawling with lice. War would be a picnic if it wasn't for lice and dysentery. […]

   1936 June 30, Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC

   Synonyms: piece of cake

4. obsoleteAn entertainment at which each person contributed some dish to a common table.
5. A cut of pork from the shoulder area (above the front leg) of a pig.

   Smoked picnics (calas) are pork shoulders with the butt portion removed just beyond the knuckle bone. Shoulder butts are boneless […]

   1940, War Department Technical Manual, page 53

   2 more examples

   Smoked picnics of medium weights - from 6 to 8 pounds - are selling at wholesale at present for about half the price of fancy hams. Standard bacon of medium weights is another smoked product that is selling […]

   1923, The National Provisioner, page 50

   Smoked picnics are sold whole and usually fully cooked. When sold boneless they are called pork shoulder roll. COOKING HAMS AND PICNICS Roasting : Roast a fully cooked ham or picnic according to […]

   2001, Good Housekeeping, The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook, Hearst Books, →ISBN, page 218

present singular third person picnics · participle present picnicking · participle past picnicked · past picnicked · alternative pic-a-nic · alternative archaic picknick

1. intransitiveTo take part in a picnic.

   And I'll never forget the chillingly instinctive racism. "Sure is pretty countryside. Pity it's spoiled by the niggers picknickin."

   2000, Bill Oddie, Gripping Yarns, page 71

1. abbreviationacronymhumorousAcronym of problem in chair, not in computer: states that the problem was not in the computer but was instead caused by the user operating it.

   Inspiration also comes from the workers who take care of the workers. Ever reported a picnic error to the IT helpdesk? No? Well they're logging them. It stands for a problem in chair, not in computer error among hapless colleagues.

   2006 November, Claire Heald, “Let's help to herd the dinosaurs”, in BBC News