Orgin of phrase "Oh my giddy aunt"

Posted by James Briggs on March 04, 2004

In Reply to: Orgin of phrase "Oh my giddy aunt" posted by Mark Malm on March 04, 2004

: I recently heard the phrase "Oh my giddy Aunt" used in
: a movie, and wonder where it originated? I beleive the
: movie was "A Knights Tale".

My "giddy aunt" is an expression used to denote surprise. The "giddy" in this instance is probably unrelated to a sense of spinning around but rather to an alternative meaning of the word indicating "impulsive" or "scatterbrained" (Old English gydig meant "mad, frenzied, possessed by God"). The expression is much older than the movies!