The origins of Hoity-Toity

Meaning

Pretentiously self-important, haughty or pompous.

Origin

Many dictionaries also give a second meaning, that is, given to frivolity, silliness or riotousness. That was the original meaning of this term, but has now almost completely died out. Our view of what is hoity-toity now is defined by the 'looking down the nose' manner adopted by characters like Lady Bracknell, as performed by Dame Edith Evans, in the stage and film versions of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest.

These days we hardly expect to hear lager louts described as hoity-toity. The two meanings of the term aren't as far apart as it might seem though and one seems to have migrated from the other. The frivolousness/riotousness meaning was first recorded in Sir Roger L'Estrange's 1668 translation of The visions of Don Francisco de Quevedo Villegas:

"The Widows I observ'd ... Chanting and Jigging to every Tune they heard, and all upon the Hoyty-Toyty, like mad Wenches of Fifteen."

The later meaning isn't seen until around mid to late 18th century and is recorded in O'Keefe's Fontainebleau in 1784:

"My mother ... was a fine lady, all upon the hoity-toities, and so, good for nothing."

As with many reduplicated phrases, one word carries an existing meaning and the other is present for emphasis. In this case the earlier meaning of the term came from the word hoit. This is a now defunct verb meaning to indulge in riotous, noisy mirth. That in turn was formed from hoyden - a boorish clown or rude boisterous girl.

The change from one meaning to the other seems to be due to the pronunciation of hoity as heighty and the subsequent allusion to highness or haughtiness. Two 18th century dictionaries give intermediate forms:

B.E's A new dictionary of the terms ancient and modern of the canting crew, circa 1700 - "Hightetity, a Ramp or Rude Girl."

Francis Grose's A classical of the vulgar tongue, 1785 "Heighty toity, a hoydon, or romping girl."

See also - other reduplicated phrases.

See also - hoi polloi.

As taken from:

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/hoity-toity.html - (I thought that it was really interesting reading about where hoity-toity came from. I love the English language and how it evolves over time!)

You know something I can't stand? The possessed traits defined by being hoity-toity. There is absolutely no need to look down your nose at others and think you are better then them. Here's a pointer for anyone who gets confused and does it: stop and remember that we're all humans and we all do the same exact things. We eat. We drink. We fuck. We pee. We poop. We fart. We die. We become dust. The end (hopefully not explicitly in that order).

We won't get anywhere in life if we focus on judging everyone else. If someone wants to make a comment, let them! It's their voice! They can use it when they want, how they want. If you don't like what they have to say, you have these great things I like to call feet. Walk away. Leave it alone. Go masturbate in a corner. It's all much more relevant and useful then raising your nose into the air and vomiting useless garble. Everyone has their own opinions and if they're set in their ways, trust me, they aren't going to ever change. Just accept it.

I'm a hypocrite. Admitting it doesn't make it okay I guess, but you know what, I don't care. I'm a hypocrite! And you know what, so is everyone else you will ever meet in the world. Whether it's minutely or on a grand scale, everyone is hypocritical. For instance: when I'm depressed I hate the world, and will tell people that, "I hate the world." But when I'm happy I love the world. The way we feel about things is determined by the way we feel all over.

And so I'm a hypocrite because there have been times when I've bitched someone else out for a different opinion, but usually it's because they had a differing opinion AND they were hoity-toity about it. It's okay for you to believe in a certain thing, to think something is wrong or right or whatever, but it isn't okay for you to make someone feel bad/stupid/wrong for feeling a different way then you. You can't reprimand someone for the way they believe because beliefs are made through life, through lessons learned and through experiences and you know what, not everyone has the same life/lessons learned/experiences so OF COURSE we are all going to have differing opinions.

In the end you have to believe what you want to believe. Take in what you can. If you're going to be a hoity-toity person then at the very least, accept it. Be unapologetically you. However, I can assure you that if you remain in an ever-lasting hoity-toity demeanor, you won't have many friends...me being the first scratched off that list.