diddly

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈdɪdəli/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Etymology 1

Short for diddly-squat.

Alternative forms

• tiddley

Noun

diddly (countable and uncountable, plural diddlies)

1. (informal) A small amount of no worth.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:modicum

   • 1990, Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried:

     They head down the mountain, back to base camp, and when they get there they don't say diddly. They don't talk. Not a word, like they're deaf and dumb.

Derived terms

• diddly-squat

Etymology 2

Onomatopoeic.

Alternative forms

• tiddely, tiddly, tiddledy, tiddley

Interjection

diddly

1. A written representation of a trill sound.
   • 1993, Hugh Hood, Be sure to close your eyes: a novel:

     On the handcar mornings or evenings he would amuse his companion by pumping away to a triple-tongued pattern, which he would hum emphatically as they rolled along: "dum diddly diddly diddly diddly diddly diddly dee dee-dum dum diddly diddly diddly diddly diddly diddly dee..."

   • 2005, Gordon Giltrap, Total Giltrap: Guitar Encounters of the Fingerstyle Kind:

     ...When combined with the following picked note, this gives a rhythmic 'diddly-dum' effect.

   • 2008, Kristie Theobald, Irish Angels:

     It's easy enough for him to go “diddly-diddly-diddly-dum” a thousand and one times, whereas with me it's “diddly-diddly-diddly- omigodIcan'tbreathe-dum!”)

Etymology 3

Possibly shortened from diddlywhacker.

Noun

diddly (plural diddlies)

1. (slang, sometimes childish) penis

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:penis

   • 1968, Monica Dickens, The Landlord's Daughter, Doubleday & Company, page 268:

     "My child is going to be taught all about sex as soon as he can understand. Mother-in-law is always clucking to him about his diddly. No, no, I say, you must call it penis."

See also

• diddly bow
• scrum-diddly-umptious