fuddy-duddery

English

Etymology

fuddy-duddy +‎ -ery

Noun

fuddy-duddery (uncountable)

  1. An action or view associated with a fuddy-duddy.
    The ban on splitting infinitives is fuddy-duddery, pure and simple.
    • 1936, “The Man of the Month: Samuel Eliot Morison”, in The Atlantic‎, volume 158, page 384:
      Now nothing would have been easier than to let all this sag into a compendium of antiquarian fuddy-duddery. Instead, the dry bones stir into flesh-and-blood issues vital to our time.
    • 1958, N. K. Easton, “Appreciation”, in The Accountant‎, volume 138, page 135:
      Thank you and congratulations for your invigorating articles on decimal coinage and the reform of our national accounts (January 18th issue) - two notable blows in the fight against fuddy-duddery!
    • 1973, Fergus Macpherson, One Finger‎, page 175:
      "Do you believe in this outmoded piece of fuddy-duddery called monogamy, eh? Or would you agree that some men should have more than one wife?"
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