Etymologically
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potty

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈpɒti/[1]
  • US: /ˈpɑti/[1]

potty1 trivial; crazy

Etymology

The adjective meaning trivial or crazy is of uncertain origin.[2][3][4] The Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English call it of unknown origin,[5][6] while Merriam-Webster and the OED take it as probably formed from English pot + -y,[7][8] though the OED finds the development of the earlier senses unclear and compares petty.[8] Green's dictionary explains it from the noun in the sense of a tankard, so literally "drunken";[9] Etymonline mentions a link with drinking, or with potter.[2] The American Heritage Dictionary and Collins say only that it may come from the noun.[10][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Feeble, indifferent, insignificant: 1860, in the second edition of Hotten's Dictionary of Slang, which glosses it "indifferent, bad looking".[8][9][2]

Semantic evolution

The first sense, contemptuous, was used mainly of something small or petty, and is now found chiefly with little ("a potty little train", 1916).[8][9] A sense "easy to manage, simple" followed in 1899, and is now rare.[8][2] Green's dictionary records the sense "crazy" from 1905, Etymonline from 1916 and the OED from 1920;[9][2][8] from it came potty about or on, madly keen on or in love with (1923).[8][9] The OED also records potty tea, tasting of the pot or stewed (1901), a rare use.[8] Merriam-Webster has a further sense, haughty or snobbish.[7]

Timeline

  • 1860 – feeble, indifferent; petty, insignificant.[8][9]
  • 1899 – easy to manage, simple.[8][2]
  • 1901 – of tea, stewed, tasting of the pot.[8]
  • 1905 – crazy, eccentric.[9] The OED's first record of this sense is from 1920.[8]
  • 1923 – madly keen on or in love with someone or something.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (informal, chiefly British) Slightly crazy; foolish or eccentric: The neighbour's dog is driving me potty.[11][7][6]
  2. (informal, chiefly British) Very enthusiastic about or fond of someone or something: She's potty about horses.[11][6][8]
  3. (chiefly British) Unimportant, trivial or feeble: a potty little village hall.[7][11][6]

Word family

  • pottiness
  • pottily

potty2 chamber pot

Etymology

The word for a child's chamber pot is formed from English pot + -y,[8][5][7][2] with the diminutive noun suffix.[8][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A chamber pot, especially a small one for a young child: 1937, in E. J. Partridge's Baby's Point of View.[8] Etymonline and Merriam-Webster date it to about 1942.[2][7]

Semantic evolution

It began as a colloquial or nursery word for a chamber pot, occasionally for a lavatory, and later meant mainly the small bowl, now usually of plastic, used by very young children.[8][5] Potty training is recorded from 1944.[2] In North America to go potty, of children or animals, to urinate or defecate, appears in 1950,[8] and the noun was turned into a verb, to sit a child on a potty (1957) and, in North American use, to relieve oneself (1972).[8] Student slang had potty-mouth, a person who uses obscene language, by 1968.[2]

Timeline

  • 1937 – a chamber pot, especially a child's.[8]
  • 1944 – potty training.[2]
  • 1950 – to go potty, to urinate or defecate.[8]
  • 1957 – verb, to sit a child on a potty.[8]
  • 1968 – potty-mouth, a person who swears.[2]
  • 1972 – verb, of children or animals, to relieve oneself.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A small bowl used by a young child as a toilet: The toddler was proud of using the potty.[7][11][8]
  2. (childish or euphemistic) A toilet, especially in the phrase go potty, to urinate or defecate.[8]

Verb

  1. To sit a small child on a potty.[8]
  2. (North American, colloquial) Of a child or animal, to urinate or defecate.[8]

Word family

  • potty-mouthed
  • potty-train

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  4. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  10. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  11. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins