[Ads-l] Twinkle toes

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Excellent work, JL. Here is a slightly earlier instance of "twinkle
toes" used as a deriding nickname.

Date: April 1, 1978
Newspaper: The Philadelphia Inquirer
Newspaper Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Article: Sports/People: Little-known skate champion is getting spotlight on tour
Quote Page 2C, Column 1
Database: Newspapers.com

[Begin excerpt]
Charles Tickner, 24, is such a little-known sports figure his name is
sometimes misspelled and his face goes unnoticed.
. . .
He began skating at age 9 and was chided by his classmates, who
deridingly nicknamed him "Twinkle Toes."
[End excerpt]

On Fri, Aug 1, 2025 at 10:02 AM Jonathan Lighter
<00001aad181a2549-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
>  Antedatings. " "A person who is quick or nimble on their feet" " OED: 1928
>
> [1889 _S. F. Chronicle_ (Nov. 26) 3: THE DANCER...A sparkle of eyes, a
> twinkle of toes.]
>
>
> 1895 _Windsor [Ont.] Star_  (Apr. 10) 3: Daily Sneers Reporter. - What is
> the highest aim of your life, Miss Twinkletoes?
>
> 1898 _Stoughton [Wis.] Courier_ (Jan. 21) 3: "Well, dear me, Tottie
> Twinkletoes!" "Well, bless my soul, if it ain't Flossie Footltes!"
>
> 1906 _Buffalo News_ (Feb. 23) 11: Vivian Vowles of the London Gaiety
> Theatre. She is a real twinkle-toes."
>
> Etc., etc.
>
> "Quick, nimble feet": OED 1919
>
> 1910 _Kansas City Times_ (Aug. 20) 3: MUSIC IN HER TWINKLE TOES  Anna
> Pavlowa, the Dancer, Is to Show America Visual Opera.
>
> As for "effeminate male":
>
> 1980 Shirley Gordon _Me and the Bad Guys_ (N.Y.: Harper) 22: "Hey
> Twinkletoes!" Too-Tall Tommy, the captain of our basketball team waves at
> me like he has a girl's hanky in his hand.
>
> JL
>
> On Tue, Sep 3, 2024 at 6:35 PM Bill Mullins <amcombill at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> > The OED updates for June 2024 included "twinkle toes", meaning either the
> > literal toes of a dancer, etc., or referring to that dancer, etc.  Also
> > included is "ironically of a clumsy or ponderous person".
> >
> > Any time I've ever heard it used in a deprecating way, I've always assumed
> > it to mean something similar to the homophobic slur "fairy", alluding, I
> > suppose, to gay dancers.  I'm probably influenced by Gunnery Sergeant
> > Hartman, in Full Metal Jacket, who asked the platoon "Who's the slimy
> > little communist-shit, twinkle-toed cocksucker down here who just signed
> > his own death warrant?"
> >
> > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHxf17yJsKs&t=98s
> >
> >
> >
> > 1983 Ed McClanahan _The Natural Man_ p 82
> >
> > Esther Williams was okay, but those twinkle-toed little dudes with pointy
> > shoes and walking sticks gave him the willies.
> >
> >
> > https://archive.org/details/naturalman0000unse_m4g5/page/82/mode/1up?q=%22twinkle+toed%22
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > 1998 Spin Aug 141/2
> >
> > These delusions are taken to barfable extremes here by metallic
> > dungeonmasters Seasons of the Wolf and Morphine Angel, both of whom flex
> > too much Neanderthal muscle to make sense in such twinkle-toed company.
> >
> >
> > https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_PeGUjNqTnGcC/page/n152/mode/1up?q=%22twinkle+toed%22
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > 1999 Janet Lowe _Ted Turner Speaks_ p. 149
> >
> > "I have heard that you are a little twinkle-toed TV announcer," Turner
> > shot back [Ted Turner to Dick Cavett]
> >
> >
> > https://archive.org/details/tedturnerspeaksi00turn/page/146/mode/1up?q=%22twinkle+toed%22
> >
> >
> >
> > 2000 PlayStationPro #46 Apr 40/2
> >
> > What twinkle-toed son of a heathen managed to take the 'a' out of action
> > and place it on the beginning of 'rse'?
> >
> >
> > https://archive.org/details/playstation-pro-46/page/n39/mode/1up?q=%22twinkle+toed%22
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > 2014 A. G. Van Slyke _Digging Up Bones_  217
> >
> > Somebody should write about this shit, the fucked-up pedophiles, those
> > twinkle-toed rump-riders.
> >
> >
> > https://archive.org/details/diggingupbones0000augu/page/217/mode/1up?q=%22twinkle+toed%22
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > 2012 Simon Doonan _Gay Men Don't Get Fat_  p. 119
> >
> > When I was a teeny, tiny, twinkle-toed toddler, "gay" meant "cheery and/or
> > brightly colored, as in your granny's kitchen curtains, or a
> > post-hysterectomy pick-me-up bouquet of mixed blooms.
> >
> >
> > https://archive.org/details/gaymendontgetfat0000doon_w2y3/page/119/mode/1up?q=twinkle
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org