batty

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See also: Batty

English[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

bat +‎ -y. In sense “insane”, attested 1903, from expression have bats in one's belfry,[1] from tendency of bats to fly around erratically. Compare also batshit (insane) and squirrelly (jumpy, eccentric).

Pronunciation[edit]

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈbæti/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈbæti/, [ˈbæɾi]
  • (file)

Adjective[edit]

batty (comparative battier, superlative battiest)

  1. (slang) Mad, crazy, silly.
  2. (obsolete) Belonging to, or resembling, a bat (mammal).
    • c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: [] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
      And from each other look thou lead them thus
      Till o'er their brows death-counterfeiting sleep
      With leaden legs and batty wings doth creep.
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Etymology 2[edit]

From bottom, possibly influenced by botty or butt.[2]

Alternative forms[edit]

Noun[edit]

batty (plural batties)

  1. (West Indian slang, MLE, MTE) The buttocks or anus.
  2. (Jamaica, UK, Canada, derogatory) A homosexual man.
    • 1996, Rudi Bleys, The geography of perversion:
      For example, recent Jamaican 'raga' lyrics by Buju Banton and Brand Nubian attach the affirmation of black identity to crude animosity towards homosexuality and contain offensive language against the 'batties' as icons of non-blackness.
Derived terms[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024), “batty”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
  2. ^ 2002, Frederic Gomes Cassidy, Robert Brock Le Page, Dictionary of Jamaican English (page 32).

Jamaican Creole[edit]

Etymology[edit]

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈbatɪ/
  • Hyphenation: ba‧tty

Noun[edit]

batty (plural batty dem, quantified batty)

  1. butt, bottom, buttocks (buttocks)
    Dem a wear buss batty pants.
    They're wearing pants with rips by the butt.
    • 2009, Hezie Samuels, Soul Sand Grains: The Cost of No Change (in English), →ISBN, page 12:
      A voice along with the music was “chatting” the lyrics, “Gal batty broad, she come in a mi yard, me tek off mi shirt and [...]”
      The girl's butt is wide. She came to my home. I took off my shirt and [...]

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