On Another Board a friend from the Benighted States of Armourica used the expression to gussy up. This was a new expression for me - context gave it sense but.
Main Entry: gus•sy up
Pronunciation: 'g&-sE-'&p
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): gus•sied up; gus•sy•ing up
Etymology: origin unknown
Date: 1952
: DRESS UP, EMBELLISH
© 2003 by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated
Anyone care to comment on whether this is common usage in your lexicon? And can anyone shed light on its origin?
It's not common up here, but I knew what it meant, thanks to American TV.
As to where its origins, I know nowt.
Dear Mav: I'm pretty sure it is a lot older than 1950s.
It has a connotation of a bit of excess, and questionable taste and judgment.
W3 gives prettify for a syn., which itself has a somewhat pejorative sense: adorn especially in a petty or overnice way.
I remember my (upper midwestern) aunt using it lots, back in the 50s and on. OED2 dates it at 1940 in a publication called Public School Slang, by Marple (which sounds British).
Good catch - when I googled that title and author I got guess what! (and it seem to confirm your earlier usage memory, Bill)
an earlier use of Gussy or Gussie as a term for an effeminate or weak person. This appeared in the US at the end of the nineteenth century. The same word was used in Australia from about the same period to describe a male homosexual. In both cases, the word was usually written with an initial capital letter, which suggests it came from the proper name Augustus, being the sort of name that authors associated with an effete or weak-willed man (think of P G Wodehouse’s wonderful invention of Gussie Fink-Nottle, who wasn’t gay but otherwise fitted the stereotype).http://www.quinion.com/words/qa/qa-gus1.htm
Could this be the origin of the phrase? The date fits well with the MW entry.
Gorgeous Gussie
In 1949, "Gorgeous" Gussie Moran - who became as famous for her ground-breaking fashions as she was for her tennis acrobatics - made headlines with her hemlines, stunning a crowd at Wimbledon by wearing white lace-fringed panties beneath her skirt.
http://www.petticoated.com/gussie19.htm
... and isn't there a similar Brit word meaning the crotch of panties?
HEY! I'm word posting here!
well there is the word gusset and they are used in women's panties, but they can be used anywhere..
not looking it up, a gusset is a peice of fabric use to create ease in a garment. most commonly found in underarm, or waist area, they are often cut on the bias.
Oh, how very interesting--the fashion 'Gus'!
And also interesting to think about gussied-up as being some kind of disguise--or being guised as something else because one is so wonderfully gussied-up. But I don't expect there would be a real relationship between guised and gussied other than the obviously shared letters.
I have rarely heard 'gussied up,' by the way, although I have heard it throughout my 53 years. I don't use it--I don't think I use it, that is. I might use it in a humorous or lightly friendly way. I do like thinking about a gussied-up goose, for some juvenile reason.
It's very, very common on the west coast, quite literally ALWAYS used in a pejorative (or at least mockingly pejorative) sense, and almost always used in conjunction with "all", ie "all gussied up". an example of usage would be if you're expecting an evening at home, and your SO walks into the room damp from a shower, smelling of cologne and in fresh clothing ~ you raise a brow and ask 'why are you all gussied up? going somewhere?'. i've never, ever heard someone compliment another by saying 'wow, you're sure gussied up tonight!'.
i agree with the preceding posts, that it implies primping ~ excessive primping, in fact. i may have not read clearly enough, but if someone hasn't already mentioned "trussing", i somehow always make a phonesthetic mental link between trussing a bird for a feast and getting all gussied up.
"It's very, very common on the west coast, quite literally ALWAYS used in a pejorative (or at least mockingly pejorative) sense, and almost always used in conjunction with "all", ie "all gussied up".
My experience, as well. Raised on the west coast (California), and heard it all my life, in the context you gave.
Helen, a tip of my hat to you. I have always associated 'gussied up' with 'gusset'. A gusset may be used for other purposes than in clothing. It may be quite a large piece used to extend or widen something; e.g., theatrical scenery.
What comes to my mind when I hear the term is those incredible Victorian ladies' dresses with the rows of ruching, flouncing, darts and -- here it comes -- let-in panels, or gussets.
in the late 1960's, there was a simplicity patttern that had gussets at the waist, of a semi fitted dress..
the suggestion was for a light main color, and a dark constrasting color..
the waist gussets were diamond shaped, and pointed in.. something like this.
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sort of shape at the waist, with the side panels in a dark color..
it whittled inches off the waist visually!
Most commonly, i have seen (and used gussets) in the underarm area, to give a neat underarm in a dolman or cap sleeve.
I never thought about them in theatrical scenery!
Haven't heard the term used for years but it was common in the 1950s. Sometimes used in a self-deprecatory way -
"I got myself all gussied up for the party and my date never showed up."
"All gussied up and no place to go!"
Here's a related (?) term - godet. A bias-cut piece of material - triangular in shape - inserted in a dress.
I had an evening gown of lace that had layered godets of "illusion" (very fine, thin and transparent kind of tulle) from just below the knees to the floor. It gave a full and feminine effect to the gown. Very pretty and it had a lovely flowing movement when I walked!
layered godets of "illusion" (very fine, thin and transparent
Ah, doubtless the origin of Weighting for Godet ;)
Gro-an--n--n...
"Nobody could love a freak like Gussie except a similar freak like the Bassett. The shot wasn't on the board. A splendid chap, of course, in many ways -- courteous, amiable, and just the fellow to tell you what to do till the doctor came, if you had a sick newt on your hands -- but quite obviously not of Mendelssohn's March timbre. I have no doubt that you could have flung bricks by the hour in England's most densely-populated districts without endangering the safety of a single girl capable of becoming Mrs Augustus Fink-Nottle without anaesthetic."