netty
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
net (“elegant, neat”) + -y (“forming adjs. of slightly lesser degree”)[1]
Adjective edit
netty (comparative nettier, superlative nettiest)
- (obsolete, rare) Neat, well-groomed, natty.
- 1573, Thomas Tusser, “Points of Huswifrie”, in Fiue Hundreth Points of Good Husbandry:
Etymology 2 edit
net (“openwork fabric mesh”) + -y (“forming adjectives”)[2]
Adjective edit
netty (comparative nettier, superlative nettiest)
Etymology 3 edit
Uncertain. Proposed derivations include a corruption of necessary, a euphemism for outhouse; French nettoyer (“to cleanse”); and Italian gabinetto (“toilet”).[3]
Noun edit
netty (plural netties)
- (Geordie) An outhouse: an outbuilding used as a lavatory.
- 1825, John Trotter Brockett, Glossary of North Country Words::
- Neddy, Netty, a certain place that will not bear a written explanation, but which is depicted to the very life in a tail-piece in the first edition of Bewick's ‘Land Birds’ (1797), p. 285.
- 1978, John Lewis, chapter III, in Uncertain Sound, page 75:
- A line of pit cottages... tiny back gardens with outside lavatories, ‘netties’, some of them emptied twice a week by the council.
- 1992 May 4, The Independent, page 13:
- Our toilet was an outside netty shared between two or three families, where you sat on a hole and hoped the cat wouldn't jump at your backside.
- (Geordie) Any other place or fixture used for urination and defecation: a lavatory; a toilet.
- 1903, English Dialect Dictionary, volume IV, page 255:
- Netty, a privy or water-closet... A common name, amongst the working classes... In common use. In my recollection it was looked upon as a euphemism.
Usage notes edit
Originally reckoned euphemistic.
Synonyms edit
- (outhouse): See Thesaurus:bathroom
- (toilet): See Thesaurus:toilet
References edit
- ^ "† netty, adj.¹" in the Oxford English Dictionary (2003), Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- ^ "netty, adj.²" in the Oxford English Dictionary (2003), Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- ^ "netty, n.", in the Oxford English Dictionary (2003), Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- A Dictionary of North East Dialect, Bill Griffiths, 2005, Northumbria University Press, →ISBN
- Newcastle 1970s, Scott Dobson and Dick Irwin, [1]
- Todd's Geordie Words and Phrases, George Todd, Newcastle, 1977[2]
- The Geordie Netty: A Short History and Guide, Frank Graham, 1986, Butler Publishing; New edition, →ISBN[3]