goody two shoes

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English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From goody (goodwife, obsolete title of respect for a woman) +‎ two +‎ shoes. Generally considered to have originated with the title character in The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes (1765), which indeed seems to be the source of its later use as a common noun with the present meaning. However, as a proper noun with implications of wealth rather than goodness, it is also found earlier, c. 1687, in the writings of Charles Cotton: “Why, what then; Goody Two-Shoes, what if it be? / Hold you, if you can, your tittle-tattle, quoth he.”

Noun

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goody two shoes (plural goody two shoes)

  1. (derogatory) A goody-goody; a person who is exceptionally good and perhaps self-satisfied.
    • 2006 June 18, William Safire, quoting Harry Reid, “Logoloco”, in The New York Times[1], →ISSN:
      [] When jabbed by ethicists, he at first asserted, "I'm not Goody Two-Shoes," before acknowledging a minor lapse.
    • 2012 April 24, Patrick Wintour, “Jeremy Hunt: the 'goody two shoes' caught up in BSkyB scandal”, in The Guardian[2], →ISSN:
      [Jeremy Hunt] is charming, thoughtful and amusing in private, and one ally said he was "almost a goody two shoes".
    • 2014 December 11, Stephen Holden, “Goody-Two-Shoes Loses His Footing”, in The New York Times[3], →ISSN:
      But the flaw at the heart of the movie is the decision of this goody-two-shoes to commit a series of robberies to support the family.

Synonyms

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Further reading

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