Swanky

I'll admit it: I have a great fondness of old and archaic terms; words and phrases that have fallen out of common use. I ask people "How's Tricks?" I complain about dealing with rigmarole. I accuse others of being dastardly. And quite frankly I compliment people as being Swanky. So, the thought occurred: What exactly does it mean to be Swanky?

According to the AHD, Swanky is simply an adjectival form of swank. Swank, conveniently located just above, can be an adjective in and of itself. However, it's noun form either describes "Smartness in Style or Bearing;Elegance", or a "swagger". More than likely, at the time this word came into common usage, one who had the smartness in style previously mentioned would also affect a swagger.

As far as definite Etymology, the AHD can offer little: It suggests that it may be akin to the Middle High German swanken, meaning "to swing". This makes a degree of sense: when one swaggers, they swing their lower body in a regular step, so the association seems to make sense.

So, what is our story? It's a simple one, at best: The swinging motion of an affected swagger, at the time considered a part of good bearing and elegance, was described by the word for swinging. Afterwards, the word did not change much, beyond growing more to describe the smartness in bearing than the actual motion.