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English word "Ditzy" | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Questions About Your Target Languages |  | |
| Redy Newbie China Joined 6846 days ago 29 posts - 11 votes Studies: English | Message 1 of 14 28 July 2005 at 12:44pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hello!
I need your help. I have a question. Today I watched a sitcom Friends, in which Ross told Joey and Chandler:"sometimes Rachel is a little ditzy." I checked my dictionary, but I didn't find the word. what dose ditzy mean? Thanks in advance 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| KingM Triglot Senior Member michaelwallaceauthor Joined 6977 days ago 275 posts - 300 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish, French Studies: Russian | Message 2 of 14 28 July 2005 at 1:02pm | IP Logged | ||
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From dictionary.com:
dit·sy also dit·zy Audio pronunciation of "ditzy" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (dts) adj. Slang dit·si·er, also dit·zi·er dit·si·est, dit·zi·est Eccentric or scatterbrained: “Needless to say, this ditsy crew succeeds in spite of itself” (David Ansen). I don't think this is a great definition, or at the very least it's incomplete. For one, it has a decidedly negative connotation and is more what we'd call an airhead than merely eccentric. Also, it is usually applied to females. Like most good English words, we love to mix and match our verbs and nouns. You could call someone a ditz. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Redy Newbie China Joined 6846 days ago 29 posts - 11 votes Studies: English | Message 3 of 14 28 July 2005 at 1:16pm | IP Logged | ||
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thank you, KingM
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| Nephilim Diglot Senior Member Poland Joined 6931 days ago 363 posts - 368 votes Speaks: English*, Polish | Message 4 of 14 28 July 2005 at 3:01pm | IP Logged | ||
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interesting word, Redy. I never heard that word before. If it's American English, it could well derive from Yiddish/Jewish. I'll have to check that one out.
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| Redy Newbie China Joined 6846 days ago 29 posts - 11 votes Studies: English | Message 5 of 14 28 July 2005 at 4:16pm | IP Logged | ||
According to KingM's explanation, ditzy is not a formal English word, it is slang. BTW, Did you watch FRIENDS? if no, I highly recommend it to you! You would love it crazily! believe me! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| andee Tetraglot Senior Member Japan Joined 6863 days ago 681 posts - 724 votes 3 sounds Speaks: English*, German, Korean, French | Message 6 of 14 28 July 2005 at 7:29pm | IP Logged | ||
It's present in Australia English also - mainly because Australia takes so much influence from America. But I don't think it's widely used it British English. I'd say the closest BE term is 'dozy' - 'dozy bint' = 'ditzy bit*h' And yes Redy, it's slang - and you probably wouldn't say it to someone directly. Edited by andee on 22 May 2009 at 8:26pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Nephilim Diglot Senior Member Poland Joined 6931 days ago 363 posts - 368 votes Speaks: English*, Polish | Message 7 of 14 28 July 2005 at 11:56pm | IP Logged | ||
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thanks Andee
the word 'dozy', I know. I think the correct spelling of this would be 'dozy' rather than 'dosey' as it must surely derive from 'to doze' meaning 'to sleep'. I agree with your two examples and would add one more - 'dozy mare'. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Andy E Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6889 days ago 1651 posts - 1939 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French | Message 8 of 14 29 July 2005 at 3:05am | IP Logged | ||
Although I've never heard anyone (that I can recall) use it in British English, I'm surprised you hadn't come across it before. Its origin, however, appears to be somewhat obscure.... ditzy "stupid, scatterbrained" (esp. of women), late 1970s U.S. slang, of unknown origin, perhaps related to earlier slang dicty (1926) "conceited, snobbish," also of unknown origin. The noun ditz (1984) is a back-formation. Andy. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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