A small, thin piece that has broken or peeled off from something larger. Can also refer to a person who is unreliable or eccentric.
From Middle English, possibly from Old Norse 'flaki' meaning 'hurdle' or 'wicker shield.' The sense of 'thin piece' developed from the idea of something flat and layered, while the slang meaning of 'unreliable person' emerged in 1960s American English.
Snow flakes are actually never identical despite the popular saying - each one's journey through different atmospheric conditions creates unique crystalline patterns! The slang use of 'flake' for an unreliable person perfectly captures how such people tend to 'fall away' from commitments like flakes falling from a surface.
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