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Monday, March 12, 2012

Language Etymology of the Day: Hoity-Toity

Posted by Brendan Kiley on Mon, Mar 12, 2012 at 9:11 AM

Counterintuitively, it may have originated from a world meaning lower-class—the Dutch heiden, "rustic, uncivilized man," which was related to heathen. The first usage in the OED is from 1668, describing what sounds like an orgy for widows: "The Widows I observ'd . . Chanting and Jigging to every Tune they heard, and all upon the Hoyty-Toyty like mad Wenches of Fifteen."

And the online etymological dictionary says:

also hoity toity, 1660s, "riotous behavior," from earlier highty tighty "frolicsome, flighty," perhaps an alteration and reduplication of dial. hoyting "acting the hoyden, romping" (1590s), see hoyden. Sense of "haughty" first recorded late 1800s, probably on similarity of sound.

Maybe it just goes to show that in the old days, the peasants had more fun. And when the landlords started having more fun—and looking down their noses at their renters/peasants—the word switched to them.

Snopes says that the popular etymology—haut toit, French for "high roof"—is false.

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Maybe it was one of those things where the peasants had fun and then the flax merchants saw their villages and thought that if only they could redo the thatch roofs they'd have a great little pied-a-terr, thus driving rents up and the peasants out.

Not too long after unscrupulous developers renamed the village huts Haut Toit -- and used sub prime loans backed up by tulips to finance them with nothing down.

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