palsy-walsy

palsy-walsy
   ‘Whoa there, palsy-walsy,’ says a young woman to a man in The Day of the Locust, by Nathanael West. In The Philanderer, by Stanley Kauffmann, occurs: ‘Well. palsy, they’re likely to ream you yet’ ‘Palsywalsy’ is typical of the reduplication indulged in by children as they experiment with words. This particular expression has been taken over by adults, but is mainly used in third person reference, describing people who are ‘palsywalsy’ with one another.
   In vocative use ‘palsy’ or ‘palsy-walsy’ softens down ‘pal’, which can occasionally sound aggressive. It recalls ‘friendy-wendy’, a term by which the playwright J.M.Barrie was addressed by a child. It suggested to him the name ‘Wendy’, which he used in Peter Pan and made famous.

A dictionary of epithets and terms of address . . 2015.

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  • palsy-walsy — [pal΄zē wal′zē] adj. [redupl. of palsy < pals, pl. of PAL + Y2] Slang very friendly; intimate …   English World dictionary

  • palsy-walsy — [adj] very friendly affectionate, buddy buddy*, chummy*, close, clubby, confiding, fond, intimate, kissy huggy*, loveydovey*, neighborly, pally, thick; concept 555 …   New thesaurus

  • palsy-walsy — [“paelzi”waeM] 1. n. a good friend, pal, or buddy. (Also a term of address.) □ Look here, palsy walsy, let’s you and me get out of here. □ Meet my old palsy walsy, John. We’ve known each other since we were kids. 2. mod. friendly; overly friendly …   Dictionary of American slang and colloquial expressions

  • palsy-walsy — British & Australian, informal if two people are palsy walsy, they seem very friendly, usually in a way that is not sincere. Those two have been getting very palsy walsy lately. She s all palsy walsy with the boss these days. (sometimes + with) …   New idioms dictionary

  • palsy-walsy — adjective (used colloquially) having the relationship of friends or pals • Syn: ↑chummy, ↑matey, ↑pally • Similar to: ↑friendly • Derivationally related forms: ↑mate (for …   Useful english dictionary

  • palsy-walsy — /pal zee wal zee/, adj. Slang. friendly or appearing to be friendly in a very intimate or hearty way: The police kept their eye on him because he was trying to get palsy walsy with the security guard. [1930 35; rhyming compound based on PALSY2] * …   Universalium

  • palsy-walsy — adjective Etymology: reduplication of palsy Date: 1943 slang being or appearing to be very intimate …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • palsy-walsy — pal•sy wal•sy [[t]ˈpæl ziˈwæl zi[/t]] adj. sts sl. friendly in a very intimate or hearty way • Etymology: 1930–35; redupl. of palsy; see pal, sy …   From formal English to slang

  • Palsy-walsy — overly and often sycophantically friendly …   Dictionary of Australian slang

  • palsy-walsy — Australian Slang overly and often sycophantically friendly …   English dialects glossary

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