▪ I. arty, a. colloq.
(ˈɑːtɪ)
[f. art n. + -y1.]
1. A jocular epithet for furniture, decoration, etc., of artistic pretensions; also applied to persons who wish to be regarded as artistic in taste, dress, etc.
| 1901 Academy 16 Mar. 221 The Kensington is its title; it is broad in the page, handsomely printed, and decidedly Art-y. 1910 Daily Chron. 5 Apr. 9/5 The house filled with badly made ‘arty’, not artistic, furniture. 1921 Galsworthy Six Short Plays 129 Pretty?..Arty? 1925 Sat. Rev. 7 Nov. 534/1, I do not like the long, rather ‘arty’ window on the front. 1927 Daily Express 30 Apr. 8/2 Artists and ‘arty’ persons—between the two there is a great gulf fixed. 1939 ‘G. Orwell’ Coming Up iv. v. 260 They were arty-looking houses, another of those sham-Tudor colonies. |
2. arty-farty adj. = artsy-fartsy adj. s.v. artsy a.
| 1967 P. Tamony Americanisms (typescript) No. 17. 2 Under constant care and tutelage,..and entertained by specious arty-farty subjects labeled ‘creative’. 1979 S. Brett Comedian Dies v. 51 Television..was different then. Less sophisticated. Less bloody cameras... Now it's all arty-farty. 1982 Barr & York Official Sloane Ranger Handbk. 24/1 In dress, one wants to look tidy, reassuring and appropriate (Sloane), not visual and arty-farty. 1982 M. Kington Miles & Miles 61 The North is..trying to impose their bluff..values on our arty-farty-Dartington, southern way of life. 1985 S. Lowry Young Fogey Handbk. vii. 58 They were elegantly photographed against suitable arty-farty and esoteric backgrounds. |
Hence ˈartiness.
| 1901 Academy 12 Oct. 337 The infected age of artiness. 1907 Daily Chron. 17 Apr. 6/6 To go somewhat beyond the ‘artiness’ of the day. 1928 Observer 22 July 9/2 The same unambitious artiness recurs page after page. |
▪ II. arty
(ˈɑːtɪ)
slang abbrev. of artillery n.
| 1942 Gen 15 June 50/2 Their arty drove us off. He hit, exploded and burned. 1944 L. Glassop We were the Rats iii. xxvii. 154 Hundreds of Jerries..moved their arty up to within rifle range of our forward posts. |