▪ I. daffy, n.2 colloq. (orig. dial.).
(ˈdæfɪ)
Abbreviated form of daffodilly. So ˈdaffying n. (see quot. 1871).
| 1777 M. Cutler in W. P. & J. P. Cutler Life & Corr. M. Cutler (1888) I. 63 Planted out in my borders in a great alley..early and late Daffies, and Peonies. 1871 Leisure Hour 25 Mar. 184/1 Another of our rustic treats..was going to gather daffodils... In Herefordshire this little festival was called Daffying. 1878 W. Dickinson Gloss. Cumberland 25/1 Daffy-doon-dilly, Daffy, the daffodil. 1925 Sunday at Home June 536/2 Little winds just rose on purpose to stir the daffies. 1928 Daily Express 28 Mar. 3/3 This has been a bad season for ‘daffies’ owing to a recent spell of frost in Cornwall. |
▪ II. daffy, a. dial. or slang.
(ˈdæfɪ)
[f. daff n., v.1; cf. daffle v.]
= daft a.
| 1884 R. Lawson Upton-on-Severn Words 14 Daffy, simple, soft. 1896 Ade Artie iii. 24 She'd make anybody daffy. 1902 Munsey's Mag. XXII. 491/2, I want to know what this new affair is. If I'm daffy, there's the reason. 1908 C. E. Mulford Orphan xiv. 180 Old man Gordon was daffy on education, which is a good thing to be daffy over. 1922 19th Cent. Feb. 270 Guess the poor old devil's gone daffy. 1923 R. D. Paine Comr. Rolling Ocean xv. 258 England was daffy over spy stories during the war. 1941 Penguin New Writing II. 87 Your eyes are all staring and aching..and they burn like hell. And it drives you nigh on daffy. 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolchildren x. 179 A person who is ‘wanting in the upper storey’ is..daffy. 1968 Guardian 28 Feb. 8/3 One of those charming fusions of the daffy benevolence of youth with the guilelessness of middle aged PROs. |