• fuddy-duddy •
Pronunciation: fê-dee-dê-dee • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: A bland, old-fashioned, usually middle-aged person who poses no threat and avoids excitement or risk; a stick-in-the-mud old fogey or, as a fuddy-duddy himself might put it: a milksop, a milquetoast.
Notes: Fuddy-duddy is a bit outdated and is more likely to be used by fuddy-duddies themselves than a hip scenester. Notice that you always replace the Y with an I before the plural -ES. Don't reverse engineer the plural and spell it in the singular fuddie-duddie; that might seem a bit harebrained.
In Play: Fuddy-duddies tend to be soft-spoken older males: "I love to go down to the park in the evening and stroll among the old fuddy-duddies playing checkers." (Everybody needs an occasional break from the excitement.) But this word can also apply to women: "My mom is such a fuddy-duddy she wants me to keep my collar bones covered!"
Word History: Today's Good Word is one of those nonsense words that flummox our British cousins (click here for Prince Charles's opinion). Ignore dictionaries that try to relate it to Scots English fuddy "animal tail, dock-tailed animal"; that explanation doesn't fly, float, or play. The word nearest today's Good Word is dud and the suffix -y is a marker of 'motherese', the language we speak to children. A duddy then would be a dud that appeals to babies. "So what about fuddy?" you ask. Americans love rhyme and rhythm, so English is packed with 'rhyme compounds' like itsy-bitsy, jeepers-creepers (a euphemism for 'Jesus Christ'), nitty-gritty, roly-poly, which could lead to hanky-panky or even boogie-woogie. Why do we do it? Well, nonsense is one of those things that you just can't explain. Okey-dokey?
FUDDY-DUDDY
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FUDDY-DUDDY
• The Good Dr. Goodword
Re: FUDDY-DUDDY
I never realized it was an American thing, I know the British say easy-peasy lemon-squeezy, or somesuch. [Yes, they do I saw it on the BBC].Americans love rhyme and rhythm, so English is packed with 'rhyme compounds' like itsy-bitsy, jeepers-creepers (a euphemism for 'Jesus Christ'), nitty-gritty, roly-poly, which could lead to hanky-panky or even boogie-woogie. Why do we do it? Well, nonsense is one of those things that you just can't explain. Okey-dokey?
mark fud-dud Bailey
there was a funny sketch on boogie-woogie only it was called the Boodgee [hard "g"] Woodgie music from a fuddy-duddy, in authority, of course it was disapproving, It was on Alice's Restaurant I think.
Today is the first day of the rest of your life, Make the most of it...
kb
some of us fuddies have found out we are mortal and pain lasts and lasts and lasts, and comes back again and again too, so are just not into extreme sports.Meaning: A bland, old-fashioned, usually middle-aged person who poses no threat and avoids excitement or risk; a stick-in-the-mud old fogey or, as a fuddy-duddy himself might put it: a milksop, a milquetoast.
mark owie Bailey
Today is the first day of the rest of your life, Make the most of it...
kb
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- Great Grand Panjandrum
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Re: FUDDY-DUDDY
Ah, yes, I remember that song; but to paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen:... there was a funny sketch on boogie-woogie only it was called the Boodgee [hard "g"] Woodgie music from a fuddy-duddy, in authority, of course it was disapproving, It was on Alice's Restaurant I think.
"I know Alice's Restaurant. Alice's Restaurant is one of my favorite albums. But Bailey, that wasn't on Alice's Restaurant."
In other words: "You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant (excepting Alice and "boogee-woogee.")"
I had to look up the lyric to find the singer, but it was done by Long John Baldry on his 1972 album It Ain't Easy.
I've tried to find the lyrics to no avail.Born John William Baldry in England, he grew to a towering 2.01 m (6 ft, 7 in) that resulted in the nickname "Long" John. Blessed with a deep, rich voice, he was one of the first British vocalists to sing blues music in clubs.
"Sorry 'bout that, Chief!"
Regards//Larry
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee
Oh yeah, I remember now it was on a song, but it had a completely off the wall arrest scene so I was reminded of Alice's restaurant, where you can get everything you want, but possibly only at that time.
mark get-what-you-need Bailey
mark get-what-you-need Bailey
Today is the first day of the rest of your life, Make the most of it...
kb
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- Great Grand Panjandrum
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Yes, the cop (an English Bobby complete with accent) finding him pandhandling "... with an old 'at, playing boo-gee woo-gee music ... ." I still can't find the lyrics, but then I haven't had a chance to look again.Oh yeah, I remember now it was on a song, but it had a completely off the wall arrest scene so I was reminded of Alice's restaurant, where you can get everything you want, but possibly only at that time.
mark get-what-you-need Bailey
The Guthrie Family tour came to Annapols recently but I couldn't afford $75 a head at the Ram's Head, nor $40 a head at the Birchmere. I'm saving my pennies for Tom Rush this coming March.
Regards//Larry
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee
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