spat
noun /spæt/
  /spæt/
 - (informal) a short argument about something unimportant小争吵;小别扭;口角 
- [usually plural] a piece of cloth that covers the ankle, worn in the past by men over the shoe and fastened with buttons at the side(旧时男子用的)鞋罩 
词源sense 2 early 19th cent.: abbreviation of spatterdash.sense 1 early 19th cent. (originally a US colloquial usage): probably imitative.