释义 |
thingummyn.Origin: Apparently formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: thingum n., -y suffix6. Etymology: Apparently < thingum n. + -y suffix6. Compare thingy n., and also thingamajig n., thingamabob n., thingummytite n.With the β forms compare also the following, showing reduplication and variation of the vowel of the first syllable:1877 W. M. Egglestone Betty Podkins' Let. 7 Gan on wu the stooery, aboot t'Egyptian thingemty-thangemty. colloquial. the mind > language > naming > anonymity or lack of a name > [noun] > thing or person whose name is forgotten or unknown α. 1737 J. Ozell tr. F. Rabelais III. xxvii. 178 It is in the Original l'estrè des femmes, i. e. a woman's Thing. In Languedoc they call every Thing (estreé) Thingumy, that they must not name. 1747 S. Fielding II. xlii. 326 She wants a whole House to herself in Thingamy-Square. 1776 J. Lee ii. 17 Ho, Mr. Thingumme,—Sir,—Mr. What d'ye-call-um. 1793 M. Pilkington II. xvi. 181 I don't want to be..worried with all that my lady what d'ye call her and the countess of thingummy said to you the last time you were trying on their mantuas. 1803 ‘C. Caustic’ (ed. 2) iv. 174 The little whalebone thingamy which the Duke of Queensbury run at New Market. 1819 ‘R. Rabelais’ 101 A passport to a brilliant court Where all great thingummies resort. 1847 C. Dickens (1848) xxvii. 272 There is no What's-his-name but Thingummy, and What-you-may-call-it is his prophet! 1862 W. M. Thackeray I. viii. 140 What a bloated aristocrat Thingamy has become! 1904 11 Jan. 12/2 Mr. So-and-so has..‘entrusted’ its little carcase to Mr. Thingummy, birdstuffer. 1937 D. L. Sayers 429 Not, of course, if it makes you feel absolutely like Saint Thingummy on the gridiron. 1985 R. Davies (1986) v. 316 Did you notice the little Wittelsbach thingummy on the door of his car? 2005 R. Asquith iv. 77 His high-powered mum was being paid an awful lot of money to set up and run a new medical research thingummy out there. β. 1813 C. Hutton II. xii. 105 As to being fond of carriages, and brooshes, and mail-coach thingumties, and four-in-hands, and them things, why it is quite out of my way.1842 12 24 ‘Now, Mrs. Thingumty,’ said she,—‘stewardess, get me a glass of brandy and water, hot, with one lump of sugar.’1930 J. B. Priestley (1931) i. 40 Just tell him I'm having a discussion—no, a thingumty—a conference, just now. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.1737 |