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Hootin annie and wigwams

Posted by ESC on February 09, 2005

In Reply to: Hootin annie and wigwams posted by Where did it come from? on February 09, 2005

: Where did the phrase "I'll trade you a hootin annie(or nannie) for a wigwam?" come from?

I don't know. Do you mean...

HOOTENANNY - "n. (orig. unkn.) 1. a comparatively small thing whose name is unknown or forgotten; a whatchamacallit; gadget; (hence, rarely) an inconsequential person. 1929.2. a. any sort of informal social event; party. 1940.b. a performance of folk music, esp. by a number of artists with a degree of audience participation. Now colloq. 1957.3. a confused or turbulent situation; commotion." From Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, Volume 2, H-O by J.E. Lighter, Random House, New York, 1994.

Also hoot(e)naddy, hooznannie. Also spelled hoot(e)nannie, hootnanny. 1 A dingus, an imaginary object, 1930s. 2. Any of various tools, appliances, or contrivances as a device making it possible to saw from under a log; a jig for sharpening shears in the correct angle, a kind of sleigh. 3. Disparaging epithet. 4. Something insignificant. 5. Also "hootin' Annie," a train that stops at every station. "Dictionary of American Regional English," Volume II by Frederic G. Cassidy (1985, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., and London, England).

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