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Saturday, May 8, 2010

This word means highfalutin

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day
           
 
 
Merriam-Webster’s
Word of the Day
May 8
 
hoity-toity
 
\hoy-tee-TOY-tee\   Audio Pronunciation
adjective
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Meaning
1: thoughtlessly silly or frivolous : flighty
*2: marked by an air of assumed importance : highfalutin
 
Example Sentence
"I’m a simple man with down-home values," said Ray. "You won’t catch me hanging out with the hoity-toity crowd at trendy art galleries or chichi nightclubs."
 
     
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Did you know?
Today we most often use "hoity-toity" as an adjective, but before it was an adjective it was a noun meaning "thoughtless giddy behavior." The noun, which first appeared in print in 1668, was probably created as a singsongy rhyme based on the dialectal English word "hoit," meaning "to play the fool." The adjective "hoity-toity" can stay close to its roots and mean "foolish" (". . . as though it were very hoity-toity of me not to know that royal personage." — W. Somerset Maugham, The Razor’s Edge), but in current use it more often means "pretentious."
 
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
 
 
 
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Learnt a lot from vicissitudes of life, I am a student of life, A work in progress, currently(sic) an overweight body but a beautiful mind, Another human seeking happiness. I believe in sharing and absorbing wisdom irrespective of the source. (aa no bhadraa kratavo...)