itsy, bitsy, ditsy...

[Wilson Gray]

There's a dialect of English in which "ditzy" means the same thing as
"dicty"? As my parents and my grandparents would say, "Well, I'll be
John Brown!" One never knows, do one?

-Wilson Gray

On 10/6/05, Benjamin Zimmer <bgzimmer at rci.rutgers.edu> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Benjamin Zimmer <bgzimmer at RCI.RUTGERS.EDU>
> Subject:      itsy, bitsy, ditsy...
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> One of the entries in the BBC Wordhunt appeals list is "ditsy", which the
> OED has in two senses:
>
>  a. = DICTY a. a, b. Also, fussy, intricate. [1978]
>  b. (Esp. of a woman) stupid, scatterbrained; cute. [1982]
>
> In the US at least, "ditsy"/"ditzy" has been used in various ways to refer
> to small or inconsequential things. The earliest I've found is "Ditzy",
> the name of a baby's toy from the 1940s.
>
> -----
> 1946 _Lima (ohio) News_ 19 Dec. 5 (advt.) The Original Ditzy Toy. A gift
> for kiddies and "grown-ups" -- Everybody enjoys playing with the "Ditzy"
> wiggle toy.
> -----
> 1947 _Iowa City Press Citizen_ 15 July 4 (advt.) Baby and Daddy alike will
> be fascinated by the new "Ditzy" animal toys just received at Gibbs Drug
> Co. Plastic zebras, giraffes and camels in gay colors are cleverly
> designed to do all sorts of gymnastic twists and turns with just a slight
> pressure on the base of the toy.
> -----
> 1948 _Iowa City Press Citizen_ 2 Mar. 7 (advt.) These newest arrivals at
> Gibbs well-stocked baby department include the marvelously agile "Ditzy"
> toy that is so popular with both Daddies and Babies. At just 79c we
> suggest you get two "Ditzies" -- one for Poppa, one for Junior.
> -----
>
> In the late 1960s, a floral pattern known as a "ditsy print" became
> fashionable in women's clothing (the print had something of a revival in
> the '90s).
>
> -----
> 1969 _N.Y. Times_ 15 Nov. 6 (advt.) Fabulous little funky crepes, so
> admittedly ditsy they're perfectly delightful. An itsy print on a lot of
> background and the flipped-out feeling makes them carry off such charm.
> -----
> 1969 _N.Y. Times_ 3 Dec. 14 (advt.) Here we show a fabulous pair of
> "Wallace Beery's"... one in a ditsy little pink or blue Arnel triacetate
> jersey print.
> -----
> 1969 _Lima (Ohio) News_ 11 Sep. 5 (advt.) Or mix our herringbone tweed
> skirt (shown below) with a ditsy print shirt.
> -----
>
> The first cite suggests a connection between "ditsy" and "itsy(-bitsy)",
> evidently referring to the small size of the flowers in the print. In
> fact, the pattern was also known as an "itsy-bitsy print":
>
> -----
> 1965 _Oakland Tribune_ 19 Nov. 32/4 Stripes, checks and wild Tahitian
> prints appear in some of the boat and beach oriented separates, and even
> White Stag has the popular provincial floral pattern — theirs in a classic
> button front tapered shirt. This print is turning up in cotton suits,
> beach clothes, granny dresses, patio pajamas and everything else — bids
> fair to create a fashion flurry if designers will only quit calling it an
> "itsy bitsy print."
> -----
>
> By the early '70s, "ditsy" could refer to various trifling things, from
> jewelry to music, typically with disparaging connotations.
>
> -----
> 1972 _Chicago Tribune_ 30 May B1/1 Sharon's ring, which James had David
> Webb design, is a thick gold band with a large diamond plunked in the
> middle and three diamond baguettes on each side. So much more stunning
> than those ditsy diamond bands, right?
> -----
> 1972 _Valley News_ (Van Nuys, Cal.) 28/5 Have you ever..picked a printed
> fabric that looked so pretty in the hand only to see it look "ditsy" and
> dull when covering your favorite new chair?
> -----
> 1973 _Washington Post_ 15 Feb. C3/2 There were no dallying models on the
> runway, no ditsy music-- just the Jackson 5, canned.
> -----
> 1973 _N.Y. Times_ 9 Nov. 36/2 So the collections were filled with faithful
> copies of the clothes mother wore in the glorious days before World War
> II, ditsy darts and all.
> -----
>
> The earliest cite I've found referring to a person is from 1973 (with the
> <ditzy> spelling):
>
> -----
> 1973 _Los Angeles Times_ 3 Aug. IV4/3 But what about the ditzy little
> secretary who lives with her ditzy mother in a ditzy state? She's trapped
> by her lack of sophistication.
> -----
>
> This may very well be a transitional sense, since it's a quote from
> fashion designer Michael Sklar, talking about bringing high fashion to
> "Middle America". It's easy to see how people in the fashion industry
> would make the metonymic leap from "ditsy" clothes to the "ditsy/ditzy"
> women who wear them.
>
> So there are a number of possible influences in the history of "ditsy":
>
> * "dicty" (as the OED suggests)
> * "itsy-bitsy" (at least for "ditsy print")
> * "dizzy" and "dotty" (in the 'scatterbrained' sense)
>
> (It makes sense that the <ditsy> spelling would be overtaken by <ditzy> as
> the sense shifted to 'dizzy'.)
>
>
> --Ben Zimmer
>


--
-Wilson Gray