straw that stirs the drink
"straw-that-stirs-the-drink" is a 22-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“straw that stirs the drink” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 26
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The person who stimulates or inspires a group; the major factor affecting a trend or set of developments.
Corpus desk
Index EN-straw-that-stirs-the-dri · straw that stirs the drink · English
straw that stirs the drink · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 26 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "S" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | straw that stirs the drink |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 26 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “straw that stirs the drink” in English
Rare enough to double-check
straw that stirs the drink is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The person who stimulates or inspires a group; the major factor affecting a trend or set of developments.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for straw that stirs the drink in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: Possibly originating in 1977 with a widely-reported self-descriptive remark by baseball player Reggie Jackson. The correct English form is straw that stirs the drink, spelled S-T-R-A-W- -T-H-A-T- -S-T-I-R-S- -T-H-E- -D-R-I-N-K.
Definition
- 1The person who stimulates or inspires a group; the major factor affecting a trend or set of developments.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how straw that stirs the drink appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Reggie Jackson . . . apparently presumed his charisma would assume command of the clubhouse. . . . " I'm the straw that stirs the drink," Reggie Jackson is quoted by Robert Ward in Sport magazine. "It all comes back to me."
"We have priced in 4 percent growth in the fourth quarter . . . ," said Alan Levenson, money market economist at UBS Securities. "Growth is the straw that stirs the drink."
Etymology
Possibly originating in 1977 with a widely-reported self-descriptive remark by baseball player Reggie Jackson.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.