diggety

See also: no diggety

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Fanciful extension of another lexical item, possibly hot dog (interjection)^[1] or dig +‎ -ety, a suffix used to extend monosyllabic words.^[2] Compare African American Vernacular English dig. Attested since the end of the nineteenth century.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈdɪɡəti/, [ˈdɪɡəɾi]
Audio (Southern England): (file)

Adverb

diggety (comparative more diggety, superlative most diggety)

(informal) A general intensifier.
- 1947, William Edward Wilson, Cresent City, page 102:
  “Goddam!” he yelled. “God diggety damn!” and “Whoopee!” and “I'll murder you! I'll murder you both!” and “Goddamn two-bit whore!”
- 2009 March 3, Eclipse-of-42, “Of Glitz and Fury, Ch. 4”, in Deviant Art‎^[1]:
  I love Grubba! He's like the most diggety dang DY-NO-MITE character in his game.
(informal, humorous) Used to extend the form of the verb dig.
- 1998, Nancy Van Laan, With a Whoop and a Holler: A Bushel of Lore from Way Down South, page 34:
  When he sees that ol’ tiger movin’ closer, Brer Rabbit does what Brer Rabbit does best. He grabs a spade and a-diggety-dig-a-diggin’ he goes, as fast as all get out.
- 1995, “Mine, Mine, Mine”, in Stephen Schwartz (lyrics), Alan Menken (music), Pocahontas (soundtrack), performed by David Ogden Stiers and Mel Gibson:
  Dig and dig and dig and diggety / Dig and dig and dig and diggety-dig

Interjection

diggety

(informal) Used to express excitement, surprise, or similar strong emotion.
hot diggety dog
- 1937, Jerome Bahr, All Good Americans, page 109:
  He stared speechless at the booing stands for a moment and then, instead of slinking away, threw his bat into the air and shouted: “Hot Dawg! Diggety diggety dam! Baby cut your toenails;”
(uncommon, informal) Imitative of rapid movement or commotion.
- 2015, Ellen Wright, “‘Do you want mustard?’ ‘Yup!’”, in Charles Wolfe, James Akenson, editors, The Women of Country Music, pages 35-36:
  [We] decided we was gonna run around in a circle by Pop’s chair. We'd go diggety, diggety, diggety, yerr. Go as close to him as we could possibly get.

Synonyms

(expression of excitement or surprise): See Thesaurus:wow

Noun

diggety (uncountable)

Alternative spelling of diggity

Derived terms

References

^ “hot diggety dog, int.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2008.
^ “-ety, suffix”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, November 2010.

[1] “hot diggety dog, int.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2008.

[2] “-ety, suffix”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, November 2010.

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