ziggetyhttp://www.oed.com/dictionary/ziggety_int%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_useziggety, int., adj., & adv.
First published 1986; not fully revised

ziggetyinterjection, adjective, & adverb

slang (originally and chiefly U.S.).
  1. 1.
    1924–
    int. Usually preceded by hot and followed by dog or another monosyllable: = hot diggety int.
    1. 1924
      I'll be damned, hot ziggety damn.
      Dialect Notes vol. 5 265
    2. 1926
      Hot ziggetty dog, expressing unlimited admiration.
      G. H. Maines & B. Grant, Wise-crack Dictionary 9/2
    3. 1933
      Hot ziggity zig!
      ‘R. James’, Worth Remembering iii. 62
    4. 1942
      Hot ziggety! hot ziggety damn! or darn! hot ziggety dog!
      L. V. Berrey & M. Van den Bark, American Thesaurus of Slang §277/7
    5. 1944
      Ziggetty!’ he said.
      M. Shulman, Feather Merchants xiii. 78
    6. 1950
      Oh, hefty ziggety door knobs!
      A. Buckeridge, Jennings goes to School viii. 155
    7. 1961
      ‘Hot ziggety,’ said an old American. ‘That's six grand I made.’
      R. Longrigg, Daughters of Mulberry viii. 97
    8. 1984
      Mr. Deforest entered with his face bright, his hands folded behind him. ‘Well, hot ziggetty, a holiday for me. What have we got going here?’
      New Yorker 21 May 46/1
  2. 2.
    1935–
    adj. adv. = zigzag adj., zigzag adv. Also reduplicated, as ziggety-zaggety.
    1. 1935
      He pursued a ziggedy course along the sidewalk.
      J. T. Farrell, Judgment Day ii. 25
    2. 1956
      I had gone backwards to walk sideways, ziggety-zaggety.
      H. Gold, Man who was not with It (1965) xi. 86

ziggety, int., adj., & adv. was first published in 1986; not fully revised.

ziggety, int., adj., & adv. was last modified in September 2024.