▪ I. dinky, a.1 and n.1 dial. and colloq. (chiefly Sc. and N. Amer.).
(ˈdɪŋkɪ)
Also dinkey, dinkie.
[f. dink a.]
A. adj. Neat, trim, dainty; small, tiny, trifling.
| 1788 E. Picken Poems 230/1 Dinkie, neat, handsome. 1858 M. Porteous Real ‘Souter Johnny’, 29 Ye'll observe yon dinkie pile In your ain cauf-lan'. 1880 Mrs. L. Parr Adam & Eve xxviii, You must leave me a dinkey little corner to squeeze into by. 1887 Courier-Journal (Louisville, Ky.) 1 Feb. 8/4 Jumping on a dinkey train while in motion. 1893 Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch 8 Apr., The British Artillerymen wore little dinky caps with a yellow band. 1896 Ade Artie xvii. 154 I'll come hot-footin' in here with my knee-pants and a dinky coat. 1904 ‘O. Henry’ Cabbages & Kings x. 169 A train of cars was waitin' for us on a dinky little railroad. 1905 E. Phillpotts Secret Woman i. i. 16 You're all angel yourself—all, to the dinky dimple there at the corner of your li'l mouth. 1915 Punch 20 Jan. 49, I shall have a couple of the dinkiest little wounded subs to show you. 1917 ‘Contact’ Airman's Outings 224 Winkle, the dinky Persian with a penchant for high life, has presented the family with five kittens. 1929 D. Coke Monkey Tree xvi, Miss Des Vaux asserted her superiority by saying that it was a ‘dinky notion’. 1960 K. M. Wells Cruising North Channel 24 You will need a stove of sorts, something better than the dinky little two-burner alcohol contraption with which so many so-called cruising ships are fitted. |
B. n. Any small object or contrivance; spec. a small boat (perhaps a corrupt form of dinghy) or a small locomotive. Chiefly U.S. (in spelling dinkey).
| 1849 Pacific News (S.F.) 27 Nov. 4/2 Picked up adrift, in San Pablo bay, a small copper Dinkey. 1874 Kalama (Wash.) Beacon 20 Jan. 4/2 The passenger train from Tacoma..passed the Des Chuttes bridge..an hour or two previous to the ‘dinkey’. 1905 Terms Forestry & Logging, Dinkey, a small logging locomotive. 1905 G. S. Wasson Green Shay 195 They'll make out to cast loose their dinky all right. 1948 Milwaukee Jrnl. 18 July 6/3 The huffing and puffing steam dinkeys..still see service when traffic is heavy. |
▪ II. dinky, a.2 and n.2
= dinkum a. and n. Austral. (and N.Z.) slang.
| 1941 Baker Dict. Austral. Slang 23 The dinky, the truth. Also adj., dinky, true. |
▪ III. dinky, n.4 slang (orig. N. Amer.).
(ˈdɪŋkɪ)
Also dinkie and with cap. initial. Pl. dinkies, dinkys.
[Acronym f. the initial letters of double (also dual) income no kids + -y6, -ie, on the model of yuppie. The final y is sometimes interpreted as ‘yet’.]
Either partner of a usu. professional working couple who have no children and are characterized (esp. in marketing) as affluent consumers with few domestic demands on their time and money. Freq. in pl.
| 1986 Sunday Tel. 21 Dec. 2/1 Dinkies: Double Income No Kids couples are the latest upmarket target identified by financiers of Wall Street and Toronto for retailers of everything from unit trusts to after shave. Ibid., British statistics released this weekend confirm that the Day of the Dinky has dawned here too. 1987 Ibid. 18 Jan. 3/1 A Swell Dinkie has her own Gold American Express card which her husband still aims for. 1987 Observer 21 June 59/3 People who will live in Docklands are empty nesters, dinkies, two incomes, two cars. 1987 Los Angeles Times 1 Nov. i. 7/2 A spokesman for the London Docklands Development Corp...describes the new resident as mainly dinkys—standing for dual income, no kids yet. 1988 Daily Tel. 28 Mar. 24/8 Affluent dinkys (double income no kids yet) and married women with investment income and rich husbands will benefit from the end of aggregation. |