dicky

• Format: Manuscript
• Language: English
• Published: 1972
• Subjects: English language > Dialects > Newfoundland and Labrador; Newfoundland
• Online Access: http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/ref/collection/elrcdne/id/21163

dicky2 n The etymology of _dicky_, as used in Newfoundland and Labrador, cannot then be merely referred to _attigi_ and its variants. The usual explanation for the British dialect _dicky_ n. is that it comes from the Dutch _dek_, covering plus the diminutive - This is not unlikely, but I suggest that the word is a fusion of several older words and concepts, including the above. In Scotland and North England, _dookens_ is a term of waste cloth, trimmings, scraps ( _dock_ v., cut off, cut down); Dutch has _doek_, cloth, _doekje_, piece of cloth, rag; Gaelic has _dichill_, protection (genitive of _dichioll_, diligence); in Scots, _dicky_ is filth, that which is "dicky" in most provincial English senses guards against. The Gaelic _deacaid_, jacket, bodice (English jacket) may also have influenced some usages. W.J. KIRWIN DEC 1972 JH DEC 1972 Used I and Sup Used I and Sup Not used dickey, adikey, dickie Checked by Cathy Wiseman on Wed 28 Jan 2015