dicky, dickey, dickie

• Format: Manuscript
• Language: English
• Published: 1972
• Subjects: English language > Dialects > Newfoundland and Labrador; eskimo*; inuit; Newfoundland
• Online Access: http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/ref/collection/elrcdne/id/20922

dicky2 n The word _dicky_, _dickey_, _dickie_, as used "on the Labrador" and in N.W. Newfoundland, is popularly derived from and considerably confused with _adiki_ (recorded also as _a'diki_, _addikey_, _addiki_, etc.), a form possibly representing the older S. Labrador pronounciation of Eskimo _atigi_, _attigi_, (with Inuit reference) an inner shirt of hide with the fur in, also a type of parka worn in N. Labrador (Eskimo _attige_, covering). The older Nfld use of _dicky_, however, signifies a _barvel_ or a kind of rough, thin coat used to protect other clothing when "working in the fish". On the Labrador coast, particularly, the usual meaning is that of _attigi_ in the extended sense of a sealskin or cloth pullover parka equipped to protect the wrists and neck from wind, spume and dirt. _Attigi_ and _dicky_ are also used locally to designate an over-parka similar to a _silapak_ (Eskimo), of light cloth used to break the wind and resist slime while the wearer is working with fish or seals. [reverse] The basic meanings of _dicky_ are to be found in English provincial usages. The Cheshire use has become generalised in the sense of a false shirt-front and found its way into British and Cdn Naval usage for a similar device worn with a "round-rig tiddley." In Cumberland, _dicky_ is a term for a rough overjacket worn at work, while other Provincial English usages (possibly obsolete) include a child's bib, a worn-out shirt, a smock, oilskins, a petticoat and a pinafore. In obs. U.S. use the word meant detachable collar. Central and North English dialects are recorded for _dick_, a child's leather bib. I am told that _dick_ is used locally in Newfoundland for a child's bib of any material. W.J. KIRWIN DEC 1972 JH DEC 1972 Used I Used I Not used dickey, adikey, dickie Checked by Cathy Wiseman on Wed 28 Jan 2015; Reverse of card at D_16855