Chrysti The Wordsmith: The Letter D - 3

Greetings verb of yours and welcome to Kristi the wordsmith. On the last couple of wordsmith additions. We trace the histories of dweeb and dolt. Two of the many disparaging English language words that begin with the letter D debt's and its adjective ditsy are splendid representatives of this tribe of reproachful D words. The term debt says generally reserved for a female perceived to be silly flighty or scatterbrained or didn't see the Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang date's the word ditsy tonight 273 So it's a relative newcomer to our language. Its source is probably the term dizzy meaning unstable wobbly without a sense of direction. The derived noun digits D-I t z appeared in print about a decade later in the early 1980s. The adjective dippy has a longer history dating from the late 1800s dippy means crazy eccentric silly or obnoxious. This reproach seems to come from Dipso maniac

an old fashioned term for drunkard. The noun dip became popular with students in the 1930s gaining traction throughout the 50s and 60s. Here's how it's defined in 1968 slang dictionary a person without much social or academic ability. An ugly small or insignificant person adept. I'm Christie the wordsmith from Montana State University in Bozeman. CHRISTIE The wordsmith is sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Zoot enterprises a high tech firm in Bozeman Montana offering challenging careers and innovative solutions for the financial services industry. Zoot web dot com.