backsies

English

Etymology

back +‎ -sies

Noun

backsies (uncountable)

1. plural of backsie
2. (childish) The act of taking back or going back on one's word, promise, or gift.
   • 1987, Carolyn W. Field, Jaqueline Shachter Weiss, Values in selected children's books of fiction and fantasy

     Frances is the loser when she agrees to no "backsies" or refunds as she buys Thelma's plastic tea dishes with money saved for a china set.

   • 2008 March 25, Harvey Araton, “For President, Knicks Could Look Nearby”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     Not one to gloat, Thorn did sound amused Monday when asked if he had broken the news to the Mavericks’ owner, Mark Cuban: no backsies.

   • 2011, Jenna Katerin Moran, Nobilis: The Essentials, Volume 1, page 11:

     Then you will be in trouble because it will kill you to have it taken out again but it will betray your deepest inner truth to tell them No Backsies.

   • 2015, Susan Morris Shaffer, ‎Linda Perlman Gordon, How to Connect with Your iTeen: A Parenting Road Map, page 226:

     Remind them that there are no “backsies” online—what is posted can't be taken back.

3. (childish) A reciprocal action or consequence, such as immediately tagging the player who has tagged one in a game of tag.
4. The act of joining a queue behind a friend rather than at the end of the queue.
   • 1988, William L. Rivers, ‎Cleve Mathews, Ethics for the media, page 45:

     To her, the ethical thicket consists of "frontsies and backsies," a phenomenon she noticed in kindergarten.

   • 2003, Ann M. Martin, The Baby-sitter's Club, page 200:

     One of his favorites is "No frontsies, no backsies," so there was really no point in trying to butt in.

   • 2019, Robert K. Bolger, ‎Robert C. Coburn, Religious Language, Meaning, and Use: The God Who is Not There:

     Backsies meant you let a kid cut behind you. A complex moral microcosm presented itself in the world of frontsies and backsies, with a wide range of available moral responses.

Translations

A reciprocal action or consequence

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