• Diddly

    Pronunciation

    • UK IPA: /ˈdɪdÉ™li/

    Origin 1

    Short for diddly-squat

    Full definition of diddly

    Noun

    diddly

    (plural diddlies)
    1. A small amount of no worth.

    Synonyms

    • See also .

    Origin 2

    Imitating a sound

    Interjection

    1. A written representation of a trill sound.
      • 1993, Hugh Hood, Be sure to close your eyes: a novelOn the handcar mornings or evenings he would amuse his companion by pumping away to a triple-tongued pattern, which he would hum emphatically as they rolled along: "dum diddly diddly diddly diddly diddly diddly dee dee-dum dum diddly diddly diddly diddly diddly diddly dee..."
      • 2005, Gordon Giltrap, Total Giltrap: Guitar Encounters of the Fingerstyle Kind...When combined with the following picked note, this gives a rhythmic 'diddly-dum' effect.
      • 2008, Kristie Theobald, Irish AngelsIt's easy enough for him to go “diddly-diddly-diddly-dum” a thousand and one times, whereas with me it's “diddly-diddly-diddly- omigodIcan'tbreathe-dum!”)

    Origin 3

    Possibly shortened from diddlywhacker.

    Noun

    diddly

    (plural diddlies)
    1. (slang, sometimes childish) penis
      • 1968, Monica Dickens, The Landlord's Daughter, Doubleday & Company (1968), page 268:"My child is going to be taught all about sex as soon as he can understand. Mother-in-law is always clucking to him about his diddly. No, no, I say, you must call it penis."

    Synonyms

    • See also .
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