bobby-dazzler orig. and chiefly dial.
(ˈbɒbɪ ˈdæzlə(r))
[dazzler.]
Something striking or excellent; a strikingly-dressed person. Hence bobby-dazzling n. and a.
| 1866 N. & Q. X. 290/2 Morgan-rattlers... In Cornwall the word is frequently applied to..things that are particularly striking or excellent of their kind. What a Lancashire man would sometimes call a ‘regular bobby-dazzler’, a Cornishman would call a ‘regular morgan-rattler’. 1891 J. Baron Blegburn Dickshonary 15 Bobby-dazzler (a grand one). A lass is a bobby-dazzler when hoo's getten a new frock on. 1913 J. L. Waugh Robbie Doo (1914) ii. 22 And, at last, wi' a perfect bobby-dazzler, he landed trampie yin below the jaw that made him spin like a peerie. 1913 D. H. Lawrence Sons & Lovers i. vi. 122 She had got a new cotton blouse on... ‘Oh, my stars!’ he exclaimed. ‘What a bobby-dazzler!’..‘It's not a bobby-dazzler at all!’ she replied. ‘It's very quiet.’ Ibid. xii. 334 There isn't room in this house for two such bobby-dazzlers. 1915 ― Rainbow ix. 237 That's a bobby-dazzlin' posy you've brought! 1931 V. Palmer Separate Lives 177 There's a filly... She'd be good to win a race or two with—a real bobby-dazzler, she might turn out to be. 1944 Gen 1 Jan. 19/2 Matthews' bobby-dazzling wouldn't be wanted in a line containing authentic inside forwards. 1949 E. de Mauny Huntsman in Career 155 A real bobbydazzler of a morning. 1959 J. Braine Vodi xviii. 215 By God, you're what my old Nanny used to call a bobby-dazzler in that dress. |