oojah-cum-spiff

English

Etymology

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

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.”