hoity toity

Etymology:

• The original meaning (frivolousness/riotousness) 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.” Later the meaning changed to mean looking down one's nose at other people. This 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.”