jim-dandy

See also: jimdandy and jim dandy

English

Alternative forms

• jim dandy

Etymology

Uncertain. Possibly a reference to the song Dandy Jim of Caroline (words by Silas Sexton Steel and music by J. Richard Myers), which was popular in the 1840s, around the time the term emerged. It was subsequently popularized by sports announcers in the late 1800s.

Adjective

jim-dandy

1. (chiefly US, colloquial) Excellent, outstanding.
   • c. 1900, O. Henry, The Passing of Black Eagle [1]:

     As its speed increased, and the black masses of chaparral went whizzing past on either side, the express messenger, lighting his pipe, looked through his window and remarked, feelingly: "What a jim-dandy place for a hold-up!"

   • 1960, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, chapter 8 (Jem's first snowman):

     We could not wait for Atticus to come home for dinner, but called and said we had a big surprise for him. He seemed surprised when he saw most of the back yard in the front yard, but he said we had done a jim-dandy job. "I didn't know how you were going to do it," he said to Jem, "but from now on I'll never worry about what'll become of you, son, you'll always have an idea."

Noun

jim-dandy (plural jim-dandies)

1. (chiefly US, colloquial) Something that is a very superior example of its kind of thing.
   • 1895 October 1, Stephen Crane, chapter 10, in The Red Badge of Courage, 1st US edition, New York: D. Appleton and Company, page 100:

     The tattered man stood musing.

     "Well, he was reg'lar jim-dandy fer nerve, wa'n't he," said he finally in a little awestruck voice. "A reg'lar jim-dandy."

References

• jim-dandy at OneLook Dictionary Search