donkey
(ˈdɒŋkɪ)
Also 8–9 donky.
[A recent word, app. of dialect or slang origin.
As the original pronunciation apparently rimed with monkey (whence the spelling), suggestions have been made that the word is a deriv. of dun adj. (cf. dunnock hedge-sparrow), or, more probably, a familiar form of Duncan (cf. the other colloquial appellations, Dicky, Neddy).]
1. a. A familiar name for the ass. (Now in general use, exc. in scriptural or solemn language, and in Natural History.)
| 1785 Grose Dict. Vulg. Tongue, Donkey or Donkey Dick, a he or Jack-ass. 1793 Gentl. Mag. ii. 1083 A Donky, or a Dicky, An ass. Essex and Suffolk. 1804 Mrs. Barbauld Wks. (1825) II. 113, I cannot tell whether my orthography is right, but a donky is the monture in high fashion here [Tunbridge Wells]. a 1819 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Wks. (1830) 116 Peter, thou art mounted on a Neddy; Or in the London phrase, thou Devonshire monkey, Thy Pegasus is nothing but a donkey. 1838 J. L. Stephens Trav. Greece, etc. (1839) 37/1 Seven camels and the donkey were stowed in the bottom of the boat. 1859 Sala Tw. round Clock (1861) 45 Costermongers' ‘shallows’, drawn by woe-begone donkies. |
b. Colloq. phrases:
(a penny, etc., more and) up goes the donkey, used with allusion to the cry of a travelling showman (see
quot. 1889);
to talk the hind leg(s) off a donkey (see
talk v.).
| 1841 Punch I. 41/2 The report of Sir John Pullon, ‘as to the possibility of elevating an ass to the head of the poll by bribery and corruption’ is perfectly correct, provided there is no abatement in the price. Let him canvass again, and..if he will only stand ‘one penny more, up goes the donkey!’ 1889 Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang (1897) 304/2 ‘Three more and up goes the donkey’, that is, three pennies more and the donkey will go up the ladder. This phrase, used by mountebanks to denote that the performance will begin when the sum required is complete, is often said mockingly to a braggart to imply disbelief. 1913 Beerbohm Let. 11 Mar. (1964) 222 They earnestly hope to raise the sum of {pstlg}500; after which ‘up goes the donkey’, I suppose. 1970 Brewer's Dict. Phr. & Fable 336/2 Two more and up goes the donkey, an old cry at fairs, the showman having promised his credulous hearers that as soon as enough pennies are collected his donkey will balance himself on the top of a pole or ladder. |
2. transf. a. A stupid or silly person.
| 1840 Thackeray Shabby-genteel Story ix, ‘What a blubbering, abthurd donkey!’ said Cinqbars. 1862 C. M. Yonge C'tess Kate xii. (1864) 212 You little donkey, you'll be off! 1878 Mrs. H. Wood Pomeroy Abb. I. 254 What a donkey he must be. |
b. A simple card-game played with special cards.
| 1920 Isis 3 Mar. 6/1 Don't play ‘donkey’ with him: he is the champion of the Giler. 1959 G. Avery James without Thomas xi. 195 They hastily changed to Donkey. |
3. attrib. and
Comb.:
a. general, as
donkey-back (
cf. horseback),
donkey-carriage,
donkey-cart,
donkey-chair,
donkey-path,
donkey-race,
donkey-ride,
donkey-track;
donkey-breeding,
donkey-driver,
donkey-driving,
donkey-drubber,
donkey-riding;
donkey-drawn,
donkey-eared,
donkey-like,
donkey-mad adjs.| 1837 J. L. Stephens Trav. Holy Land (Chambers) 116 From there we started on *donkey-back. 1884 L. Oliphant Haifa (1887) 158 A favourite method of locomotion among the women, was donkey-back. |
| 1816 Jane Austen Let. 9 July (1952) 459 We set off in the *Donkey Carriage for Farringdon. 1894 Times 23 Mar. 3/2 The Queen..went out in her donkey-carriage this morning. |
| 1838 Dickens O. Twist xxi, *Donkey-carts laden with vegetables. |
| 1868 C. M. Yonge Let. 8 Oct. in C. Coleridge C.M.Y. (1903) 298 She had been out for a long turn in a *donkey chair. |
| 1841 Lane Arab. Nts. I. 61 Three *donkey-drivers, conveying the luggage of two British travellers. |
| 1899 Westm. Gaz. 18 July 3/3 This zebra-donkey combination appears to exhibit a more than *donkey-like obstinacy. 1962 I. Murdoch Unofficial Rose xxvi. 250 The more owlish and donkey-like he felt himself becoming. |
| 1855 D. G. Rossetti Let. 1 July (1965) I. 261 A *donkey-ride at Clevedon. 1894 G. du Maurier Trilby I. ii. 154 Swings, peep-shows, donkey-rides. |
| 1825 H. Wilson Mem. II. 86 Fanny..doated on *donkey-riding. |
| 1875 J. H. Bennet Shores Medit. i. vii. 189 The road from Castellare, a *donkey-track. |
b. Special combs.:
donkey-boy, a boy in charge of a donkey, or of a donkey-engine;
donkey-drop colloq., in cricket, tennis, etc.: a slow ball bowled or hit so that it travels in a high curve;
donkey-engine, a small steam-engine, usually for subsidiary operations on board ship, as feeding the boilers of the propelling engines, etc.; hence
donkey-boiler;
donkey jacket, a thick jacket worn by workmen as a protection against rain, cold, etc., and later in more general use as a fashionable garment;
donkey-lick Austral. slang, (
a)
v. trans., to defeat easily (
e.g. in a horse-race); (
b)
n., treacle or golden syrup;
donkey-man, a man in charge of a donkey, or of a donkey-engine;
donkey-pump, an auxiliary steam-pump for filling the boiler of a steam-engine, or for other subsidiary operations;
donkey-rest, in
Paper-making, ‘a frame against which the form is laid to drain’ (
Cent. Dict.);
donkey's breakfast slang, (
a) a straw mattress (see also
quot. 1901); (
b) a straw hat;
donkey-sled U.S. (see
quot.);
donkey's or
donkeys' years (
occas. ears, with punning allusion to the length of a donkey's ears and to the vulgar pronunciation of
ears as
years)
colloq., a very long time;
donkey-work, the hard or unattractive part of an undertaking.
| 1840 Barham Ingol. Leg., Bagman's Dog, Little *donkey-boys your steps environ. 1894 Times 22 June 10/5 The mate..and the donkey-boy..went in a boat. |
| 1888 A. G. Steel in Steel & Lyttleton Cricket iii. 128 Are you going to bowl your *donkey-drops? I'll hit them all out of the ground. 1906 Donkey-drop [see dolly n.1 3 b]. 1927 Daily Tel. 14 June 9/1 He is content to play ‘donkey drops’ back into court, awaiting the right ball to hit. |
| 1858 Merc. Marine Mag. V. 49 Hose was..put on the *donkey-engine. 1877 W. Thomson Voy. Challenger I. i. 52 The donkey-engines for hoisting the dredging and sounding gear. |
| 1929 Morning Post 4 Oct., Members of the City Corporation wanted to know at yesterday's meeting at the Guildhall what a *donkey jacket is... Mr. Gower explained that the jacket was one with leather shoulders and back. 1959 J. Braine Vodi xxii 237 He stood there..in his navy-blue donkey jacket and black corduroys. 1961 Sunday Express 19 Nov. 1/4 Mr. Osborne, wearing a fur-lined check donkey jacket over a light-weight suit, arrived 10 minutes early for the wedding. |
| 1944 Truth (Sydney) 13 Feb. 4/3 Breasley saw Kintore *donkey-lick a field of youngsters in the Federal Stakes. 1945 C. Mann in Coast to Coast 23 The filly would donkey lick them in the second. 1953 Baker Australia Speaks iii. 81 Donkey lick or cocky's delight, treacle or golden syrup. |
| 1878 Daily News 26 Sept. 2/3 We also had 3 engineers and *donkeymen. |
| 1869 Eng. Mech. 10 Dec. 293/2 Of the means for feeding the boiler, those in general use are the injector, *donkey-pump, and the force pump. |
| 1901 W. C. Russell Ship's Adv. iii, Explaining..that the term *donkey's breakfast signified the bundle of straw which sailors who are reckless of their money ashore carry on board ship with them as a bed. 1909 J. R. Ware Passing Eng. 114/2 When a gent puts a donkey's breakfast a-top of his nut. 1916 ‘Anzac’ On Anzac Trail 7 We slept on the usual ‘donkey's breakfast’, of course. 1935 ‘J. Guthrie’ Little Country vi. 131 City men in the bowler hat and in the straw hat that was called a donkey's breakfast. |
| 1905 Terms Forestry & Logging 35 *Donkey sled, the heavy sled-like frame upon which a donkey engine is fastened. |
| 1916 E. V. Lucas Vermilion Box lxxvii. 86 Now for my first bath for what the men call ‘*Donkey's ears’, meaning years and years. 1927 H. S. Walpole Great Trad. xvi, I was at the wedding, you know,..'aving worked for Miss Janet and her sister donkey's years. 1928 S. Vines Humours Unreconciled ix. 121 He hasn't talked emotionally to me for donkey's years. 1955 J. I. M. Stewart Guardians i. 8 It was donkey's years since he had been in an English train. 1961 Observer 19 Mar. 3/3 American influence and financial participation have been strong here for donkeys' years. |
| 1920 Nat. Rev. Apr. 145 Most of the *donkey-work of this preposterous League has fallen on British shoulders. 1928 Sunday Dispatch 8 July 20/5 It would never do for a player to bat and not take his share of the donkey-work afterwards! 1940 Manch. Guardian Weekly 15 Mar. 213 As Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health she has had to do most of the donkey work in debate. |
Hence
ˈdonkey v. intr., to ride a donkey.
ˈdonkeydom, condition of a donkey, stupidity, folly.
ˈdonkeydrome [after
hippodrome], a course for a donkey-race.
ˈdonkeyess, a female donkey.
ˈdonkeyhood, the condition of being a donkey; donkeys collectively.
ˈdonkeyish a., like a donkey, asinine; stupid, foolish.
ˈdonkeyism, the quality of being, or an act characteristic of, a ‘donkey’; folly.
ˈdonkeyship, the personality of a donkey. (All more or less
nonce-wds.)
| 1843 Lefevre Life Trav. Phys. III. iii. xiii. 271 The walks..invite to many pedestrian excursions, and to a deal of donkeying. 1889 Baring-Gould Pennycomequicks (1890) 466 [It] had startled her out of this intellectual donkeydom. 1852 M. W. Savage R. Medlicott i. v. (D.), The two charioteers being left sprawling in the dust of the donkeydrome. 1842 P. Parley's Ann. III. 31 Crossing the heath..with no less than seven donkeys and donkeyesses tied in a string. 1869 Sat. Rev. 13 Feb. 222 The typical vanity and maladroit ways of donkeyhood. 1831 Fraser's Mag. III. 564 We find ourselves quite donkeyish and stupid. 1855 Househ. Words XII. 160 [He] committed an outrageous donkeyism. 1858 O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. xii. (1891) 293 One softens down the ugly central fact of donkeyism. 1889 St. Nicholas Mag. Feb. 304 His donkeyship determined That he would yet have fun. |
______________________________
Add:
[2.] c. A low stool on which an artist sits astride,
esp. in an art-school.
| 1943 Burlington Mag. June 145/1 He sat as others did, on a low ‘donkey’ near the floor, doing his untutored best to render the cast in front of him. 1967 O. Lancaster With Eye to Future iii. 91 Hours during which I should have been listening to interesting lectures on The Prelude were increasingly frequently spent astride my ‘donkey’. 1979 C. Hayes Compl. Guide Painting & Drawing Techniques & Materials ii. 31 (caption) Applying the finishing touches to an artist's donkey and sketching easel. 1989 Art Line Apr.–May 9/1 The student sits on a wooden ‘donkey’, his left hand clasping the drawing board in front of him. |
[3.] b. donkey derby, a race between competitors mounted on donkeys; a meeting at which such races are held.
| 1958 H. E. Bates Darling Buds of May vii. 137 Pop was..trying to induce Miss Pilchester to ride in the *donkey Derby. 1976 Milton Keynes Express 28 May 3 News was taking part in Kingsbrook School donkey derby at Deanshanger—the Ass-cot of the season, you might say. 1985 Sunset June 4/3 June 29 and 30: Cripple Creek, Donkey Derby Days with burro races. |
donkey stool = sense *2 c above.
| 1945 E. Waugh Brideshead Revisited i. v. 95 We sat astride the donkey stools and evoked a barely visible wraith of Trilby. My drawings were worthless. |