diggety
See also: no diggety
English
Etymology
Fanciful extension of another lexical item, possibly hot dog (interjection)[1] or dig + -ety, a suffix used to extend monosyllabic words.[2] Compare African American Vernacular English dig. Attested since the end of the nineteenth century.
Adverb
diggety (comparative more diggety, superlative most diggety)
- (informal) A general intensifier.
- 1947, William Edward Wilson, Cresent City, page 102:
- “Goddam!” he yelled. “God diggety damn!” and “Whoopee!” and “I'll murder you! I'll murder you both!” and “Goddamn two-bit whore!”
-
- (informal, humorous) Used to extend the form of the verb dig.
- 1998, Nancy Van Laan, With a Whoop and a Holler: A Bushel of Lore from Way Down South, page 34:
- When he sees that ol’ tiger movin’ closer, Brer Rabbit does what Brer Rabbit does best. He grabs a spade and a-diggety-dig-a-diggin’ he goes, as fast as all get out.
- 1995, Stephen Schwartz (lyrics), Alan Menken (music), “Mine, Mine, Mine”, in Pocahontas (soundtrack), performed by David Ogden Stiers and Mel Gibson:
- Dig and dig and dig and diggety / Dig and dig and dig and diggety-dig
-
Interjection
diggety
- (informal) Used to express excitement, surprise, or similar strong emotion.
- hot diggety dog
- 1937, Jerome Bahr, All Good Americans, page 109:
- He stared speechless at the booing stands for a moment and then, instead of slinking away, threw his bat into the air and shouted: “Hot Dawg! Diggety diggety dam! Baby cut your toenails;”
- (uncommon, informal) Imitative of rapid movement or commotion.
- 2015, Ellen Wright, “‘Do you want mustard?’ ‘Yup!’”, in Charles Wolfe and James Akenson, editors, The Women of Country Music, page 35-36:
- [We] decided we was gonna run around in a circle by Pop’s chair. We'd go diggety, diggety, diggety, yerr. Go as close to him as we could possibly get.
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Synonyms
- (expression of excitement or surprise): See Thesaurus:wow
References
- “hot diggety dog, int.”, in OED Online
, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2008. - “-ety, suffix.”, in OED Online
, Oxford: Oxford University Press, November 2010.
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