Did something about answer C appeal to you? We got "kickshaw" from "quelque chose" (pronounced \KEL-kuh-SHOHZ\) via a process called "folk etymology." Folk etymology is the transformation of words so as to give them an apparent relationship to other better-known or better-understood words. English speakers of the late 1500s heard the French "quelque chose" and made it into "kickshaw," a set of syllables that sounded much more like English. Another word that came about by folk etymology is "cockroach," which is from the Spanish "cucaracha."