Adj. (common).—1. Sorry; inferior; paltry and poor in quality. Dickey
domus (theatrical) = a poor ‘house.’
2. (London).—Smart. A corruption of up to dick (q.v.). Cf., subs.,
sense 6.
All dickey with [one], adv. phr. (common).—Queer; gone wrong; ‘all up
with.’
1811. Poole, Hamlet Travestied, III., vi. O, Hamlet! ’tis all
dickey with us both You’ve done my business by a blow, ’tis true;
But I—Oh! I—have done the same for you.
1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 21. ’Twas all dicky with
Georgy, his mug hung so dead.
1837. Thackeray, in Fraser’s Magazine, 10 Oct. Sam, the stable boy
[who from living chiefly among the hosses and things has got a sad
low way of talking], said it was all dicky, and bid us drive on to
the nex’ page.
1837. Barham, I. L. (Brothers of Birchington). Here a monk, whose
teeth funk and concern made to chatter, Sobs out as he points to
the corpse on the floor, ‘’Tis all dickey with poor Father
Dick—he’s no more.’
1882. Daily Telegraph, 3 Oct., p. 2, col. 2. I was coolly told that
‘anyhow, all the actual meat there was in, say half a pound of
cheap German sausage, couldn’t do any one much harm if it was ever
so dicky.’
Dickey-bird, subs. (common).—1. A louse. For synonyms, see Chates.