oojah-cum-spiff

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English

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Etymology

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Coined by British novelist P. G. Wodehouse in 1923; see quotations below. From the noun oojah-cum-pivvy (an unknown thing; a whatsit) and adjective spiffy (dapper, fine).

Adjective

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oojah-cum-spiff (not comparable)

  1. (uncommon) In good condition, fine, excellent.
    • 1923, P.G. Wodehouse, Leave it to Psmith[1], page 95:
      [] the first thing tomorrow, my dear fellow, I must take you round and show you my gardens.”
      “I shall look forward to it keenly,” said Psmith. “They are, I can readily imagine, distinctly oojah-cum-spiff.”
    • 1926, P.G. Wodehouse, “Jeeves and the impending doom”, in The Strand, volume 72, page 605:
      “All you have to do,” I said, “is to carry on here for a few weeks more, and everything will be oojah-cum-spiff.”
    • 2014 [1987 June 6], R. W. F. Poole, “’Nuff said”, in The Buried Treasures[2], newspaper column of Daily Telegraph Weekend, archived from the original on 10 July 2023:
      He thought for a long time and said, “You don’t spell it, you just say it.” The word in question was “croos”: it is a word for “lively”, “fit”, “oojah-cum-spiff” – I have no idea whether I have spelt it correctly; it is possibly the first time it has ever been committed to paper.
    • 2015, Roger DeBeers, Sr., Murder is Forever, page 21:
      “It’s done,” Morgan said.
      “Excellent. Things are looking oojah-cum-spiff.”