Thingamerry or thingamabob or thingumabob (origin)

Posted by James Briggs on May 26, 2004

In Reply to: Thingamerry or thingamabob or thingumabob (origin) posted by Paddy on May 25, 2004

: even 'thingummy', all four seem to mean practically the same; the first one 'thingamerry sounds more Irish to me; its a word used, especially in spoken English, when the name of an object has been forgotten; any suggestions about the origin of the term?
:
: does anybody know the origin and maybe meaning in other languages?

: I only know its equivalent in Finnish (tökötti); any other languages?

: thanks

In German it's 'ding', 'dingsbum' or 'dingsda'. 'Ding'is 'thing' in German.