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Oopsy Daisy

Posted by Masakim on December 12, 2001

In Reply to: Oopsy Daisy posted by R. Berg on December 12, 2001

: : Where did the saying come from and why?

: It's derived from "up-a-daisy." I answered this question once before, but I can't find the place in the archives. The "up" in "up-a-daisy" (said when lifting a child) means up, and the "daisy" is the same "daisy" as in "lackadaisy." "Lackadaisy" is an extended form of "lack-a-day" (obsolete or archaic), from "Alack-a-day!"--an exclamation originally meaning "Shame or reproach to the day" or "Woe worth the day." "Alack" probably comes from "ah" (= Ah!) plus "lack" (= failure, fault, reproach, disgrace, shame). All this information comes from the Oxford English Dictionary.

See also: The meaning and origin of ups-a-daisy.

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