toady English · revision 1249

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈtəʊ.di/ ''(UK)''; /ˈtoʊ.di/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is apparently a shortening of ''toad-eater''^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) “a fawning flatterer” (1742),^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) from [[toad]].^(AHD)^(RHWU) A ''toad-eater'' was originally the assistant of a quack who ate, or pretended to eat, a toad, thought to be poisonous, so that his master could show his skill at expelling the poison (1629).^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) Etymonline notes that it may also be from or influenced by the adjective ''toady'' “loathsome”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A servile parasite or flatterer (1826).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) An earlier ''toady'' meant a little or young toad (about 1690).^(OED 1989)^(AHD)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A man who would eat a toad for his master was the type of a fawning parasite,^(AHD)^(Etymonline) and ''toad-eater'' came to mean a flatterer by 1742.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) The verb ''toady'' “to behave as a toady” followed in 1827.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1629 – ''toad-eater'', a quack's assistant.^(Barnhart 1995)^(AHD)

+ * about 1690 – ''toady'', a young toad, now obsolete.^(OED 1989)^(AHD)

+ * 1742 – ''toad-eater'', a flatterer.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1826 – a sycophant.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1827 – verb, to flatter servilely.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person who flatters others for their own advantage; a [[sycophant]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To behave like a toady; to [[fawn]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[toadyism]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[toad]]

+ * [[toadeater]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Random House gives ''fawner'', ''yes man'', ''parasite'' and ''apple polisher'' as synonyms.^(RHWU)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}