5

What is the origin of the phrase neat but not gaudy?

I’m thinking that it might possibly be from Samuel Wesley or Dorothy Sayers — or, just possibly, from Josephine Tey.

Improve this question
1
  • I still have fond memories of the line from, I'm thinking, Fractured Fairy Tales: "Shabby but neat". (Although I see that use is predated maybe 60 years by this one.)
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Mar 31, 2016 at 18:20

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
4

The phrase definitely predates Dorothy Sayers (who used the phrase in Whose Body) and Josephine Tey (who used the phrase in Daughter of Time). The Routledge Dictionary of Historical Slang, Eric Partridge, has the following entry for the phrase, and suggests it came into use between 1630 and 1800, the former date also predating Samuel Wesley: neat but not gaudy entry

(S.E. = Standard English, c.p. = catchphrase)

Note, Partridge's Dictionary of Catch Phrases has a slightly more-complete entry. It offers a 1700's quote from Samuel Wesley, then quotes “R.C.” to the effect that the original source is Shakespeare's Hamlet, I iii line 75:

Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not express’d in fancy; rich, not gaudy;

but it seems not clear cut.

Improve this answer
3
  • Well done! I confess that I had never heard this phrase myself.
    – tchrist ♦
    Commented Aug 10, 2013 at 17:56
  • 1
    Wesley's 1700 is the first entry in the OED, and they also cf. Hamlet's rich not gaudy.
    – Hugo
    Commented Aug 10, 2013 at 20:53
  • Fascinating discussion! My father used this phrase, usually to comment on my mother's outfit for the evening. I recently watched the movie "Ziegfeld Girl" from 1941. In one scene, Jimmy Stewart is in a bar and is asked how he likes his bourbon. His reply is "Neat, but not gaudy" which then comes as a play on words with "neat" referring to straight with no ice instead of a comment on an outfit.
    – user168150
    Commented Mar 31, 2016 at 17:24
0

I can't provide any more detail on the source or meaning; my father used this expression but with a different ending, "neat but not gaudy, like an elephant's bottom sewn up with a bicycle chain".

Improve this answer
0

My mother - Welsh - frequently used the expression ‘gay but not gaudy as the parrot said as he painted his bum red’ usually in the presence of something fairly gaudy….that’s gay in the old form of the word btw….

Improve this answer
1
  • 1
    Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please edit to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.
    – Community Bot
    Commented Nov 22, 2022 at 19:08

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .