Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy

Дата публикации: Jan 15, 2016 12:9:22 PM

Reduplicative words

airy-fairy argy-bargy chit-chat criss-cross dilly-dally harum-scarum helter-skelter higgledy-piggledy hocus-pocus hoity-toity hotchpotch hurly-burly itty-bitty mumbo jumbo mishmash nitty-gritty ping-pong pitter-patter shilly-shally teeny-weeny tittle-tattle touchy-feely wishy-washy

easy-peasy adjective BrE /ˌiːzi ˈpiːzi/ ; NAmE /ˌiːzi ˈpiːzi/ (British English, informal) - (used especially by children) very easy

Word Origin: It comes from a 1970's british TV commercial for Lemon Squeezy detergent. They were with a little girl who points out dirty greasy dishes to an adult (mom or relative) and then this adult produces Lemon Squeezy and they clean the dishes quickly. At the end of the commercial the girl says "Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy".

Today it is a silly way to state something was or will be very easy.

hokey-cokey noun BrE /ˌhəʊki ˈkəʊki/ ; NAmE /ˌhoʊki ˈkoʊki/ (British English) (North American English hokey-pokey BrE /ˌhəʊki ˈpəʊki/ ; NAmE /ˌhoʊki ˈpoʊki/ )

a dance in which people stand in a circle and make movements with their arms and legs while singing; the music for this dance

Word Origin 1940s: perhaps from hocus-pocus.

hanky-panky noun BrE /ˌhæŋki ˈpæŋki/ ; NAmE /ˌhæŋki ˈpæŋki/ [uncountable](old-fashioned, informal)

1. sexual activity that is not considered acceptable

There was all sorts of hanky-panky going on at the party.

2. dishonest behaviour

Word Origin mid 19th cent.: perhaps an alteration of hokey-pokey.

hoity-toity adjective BrE /ˌhɔɪti ˈtɔɪti/ ; NAmE /ˌhɔɪti ˈtɔɪti/ (old-fashioned, informal)

behaving in a way that suggests that you think you are more important than other people

Word Origin mid 17th cent. (as noun in the sense ‘boisterous or silly behaviour’, then as adjective meaning ‘lively and playful’): from obsolete hoit ‘indulge in riotous mirth’, of unknown origin.

1. прил.

1) а) надменный, напыщенный, претенциозный б) обидчивый; раздражительный; недовольный

2) а) ветреный, легкомысленный, непостоянный б) уст. игривый, шумный, резвый

2. сущ.

1) шум; беспорядок

2) а) легкомыслие, ветреность, несерьёзность б) высокомерие, надменность (по отношению к кому-л.)

3) диал. крикливая девица, девчонка-сорванец

3. межд.; ирон. скажите пожалуйста!, вот это да!

Oh hoity-toity, are we? - Ну конечно, где уж нам!

'Hoity-toity!' exclaimed Mrs Pipchin, shaking out her black bombazeen skirts, and plucking up all the ogress within her.

Пустяки! - воскликнула миссис Пипчин, встряхивая свою черную бомбазиновую юбку и обнаруживая все качества людоедки.

Dombey and Son Dickens, Charles

hocus-pocus noun BrE /ˌhəʊkəs ˈpəʊkəs/ ; NAmE /ˌhoʊkəs ˈpoʊkəs/ [uncountable]

language or behaviour that is nonsense and is intended to hide the truth from people

Word Origin early 17th cent.: from hax pax max Deus adimax, a pseudo-Latin phrase used as a magic formula by conjurors.