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goody two-shoes

 
Dictionary: goody two-shoes
('shūz') pronunciation
n. Informal, pl., goody two-shoes.
A goody-goody.

[After the title character in The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes, a nursery tale perhaps by Oliver Goldsmith.]


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Wordsmith Words: goody two-shoes
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(GOOD-ee TOO-shooz)

noun
A smugly virtuous person.

Etymology
After the title character in The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes, a children's book believed to have been written by Oliver Goldsmith

In this moralistic nursery tale, Margery is an orphan who has only one shoe. One day, when she gets the full pair, she runs about shouting, "Two shoes!" Eventually she becomes rich and educated through her virtue and hard work.
The word goody was a polite term of address for a woman of humble social status. It's a contraction of the word goodwife and was formerly used as a title in a manner similar to the current Mrs.

Usage
"Before anybody else, Falk realized this: 'In the age of TV sports, if you were to create a media athlete and star for the '90s -- spectacular talent, midsized, well-spoken, attractive, accessible, old-time values, wholesome, clean, natural, not too Goody Two-shoes, with a little bit of deviltry in him -- you'd invent Michael." — Curry Kirkpatrick; In an Orbit All His; Sports Illustrated; Nov 9, 1987.


Idioms: goody two-shoes
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A prudish, self-righteous individual, a goody-goody. For example, Phyllis was a real goody two-shoes, tattling on her friends to the teacher. This expression alludes to the main character of a nursery tale, The History of Goody Two-Shoes (1765), who was so pleased when receiving a second shoe that she kept saying "Two shoes." The goody in the story is short for goodwife but means "goody-goody" in the idiom.


Word Tutor: goody-two-shoes
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pronunciation

IN BRIEF: Sentimentally, affectedly, or unctuously well-behaved.

 
 
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shoe (Idiom)
Adam Ant (Singer)
John Newbery (English publisher & businessman)

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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
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Idioms. The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
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