▪ I. totty, n. (a.1)
(ˈtɒtɪ)
Also tottie, totie.
1. Affectionate diminutive of tot n.4; a tiny tot or little child. Also as adj. Tiny, wee. Hence ˈtottykins = toddlekins.
| 1821 Galt Sir A. Wylie III. xxxiii. 287, I would be blithe to see the wee totties spinning about the floor like peeries. 1849 J. Milne Let. in Bonar Life ix. (1868) 129 There is not a day that I don't think of our poor little totty. Ibid. 128 Bonnie wee totikins, Bricht as a bee. 1906 A. M{supc}Cormick Tinkler Gipsies Galloway ii. 89 The fairies,—totie wee bodies a' cled in red. |
2. slang. A girl or woman, esp. a ‘good-time’ girl.
| 1890 Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang II. 368/2 Tottie.., a girl, a fast girl. 1914 Joyce Dubliners 29 He asked us which of us had the most sweethearts. Mahony mentioned lightly that he had three totties. 1957 J. Braine Room at Top xxviii. 230 She has a pal, some old tottie that lends her a flat. 1968 ‘O. Mills’ Sundry Fell Designs viii. 86 All Dan's Manchester-type ladies were only totties. This marriage wasn't going to make any difference to them. 1977 C. Watson One Man's Meat iv. 34 Showing off. Certainly, why not? There were a couple of totties just behind. |
3. Comb.: totty-pot = potty n. 1.
| 1966 ‘L. Lane’ ABZ of Scouse II. 83 Potty or totty-pot, a child's chamber-pot. 1971 Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 22 Oct. 17/2 Room in boot for pram, pushchair, totty-pots, picnic gear. |
▸ Brit. slang. As a mass noun: people (esp. women) collectively regarded as objects of sexual desire. Freq. in a bit of totty.
| 1985 R. Curtis & B. Elton Blackadder II in R. Curtis et al. Black-Adder (1998) 126/1 Still why should I complain, just leaves more rampant totty for us real men, eh? 1986 Guardian 13 Nov. 21/4 Tony, a Fusilier NCO explains: ‘About one in a hundred out here gets a bit of totty, a Greek woman: and they're going to end up married.’ 1997 Total Film 23/2 They're not typical male totty, though—one's overweight, another's a middle-aged ex-foreman. 2000S. Ingham in J. Adams et al. Girls' Night In 569 Clever me, I've scored the most glorious bit of totty. |
▪ II. totty, a.2 Now dial.
(ˈtɒtɪ)
Forms: 4–6 toty, 6 tottye, -ie, 6– totty.
[app. f. tot-, as in totter and tottle + -y.]
Unsteady, shaky, tottery (physically or mentally); dizzy, dazed; tipsy, fuddled.
| c 1386 Chaucer Reeve's T. 333 Myn heed is toty of my swynk to-nyght. 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy ii. 5752 Somme also so toty in her hede Þat þei..haue no foot for to stonde vp-riȝt. 1522 More De Quat. Noviss. Wks. 97 What good can the great gluton do w{supt}..his noll toty with drink? 1570 Levins Manip. 112/11 Totty, vacillans, ebriolus, a. 1594 O. B. Quest. Profit. Concern. 23 b, I thought his head was but tottie. 1652 Season. Exp. Netherl. 10 Who proving totty, They thought to ballast him. 1819 Scott Ivanhoe xxxiii, I was somewhat totty when I received the good knight's blow, or I had kept my ground. 1828 Craven Gloss., Totty, half drunk, tipsy. 1890 Doyle White Company xvii, Nay, nay, your head I can see is still totty. |
b. Comb.: totty-grass, totter-grass, quaking-grass; totty-head, an imbecile; totty-headed a., light-headed, silly, frivolous; dizzy, giddy.
| 1901 Speaker 20 Apr. 86/2 Who ever saw a child that did not love to gather primroses, horse daisies, or *totty-grass? |
| 1680 Honest Hodge & Ralph 28 Not such *Totty-heads yet, as to be led by the Nose by him. |
| a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, *Totty-headed, Giddy-headed, Hare-brain'd. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Totty, totty-headed, dizzy. Particularly from the effect of too much drink. |