/ · 1894 Brewer’s · N · Neddy (a man’s name)
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A contraction and diminutive of Mine Edward—Mine Eddy, My NʹEddy. Teddy, is the French tu, toi, form; and Neddy the nunation form. (Edʹ, Ted, Ned.)
Neddy. A donkey; a low cart used in Dublin; so called because its jolting keeps the riders eternally nodding.
“The ‘Set-downʹ was succeeded by the Noddy, so called from its oscillating motion backwards and forwards.”—Sketches of Ireland (1847).
Neddy. A dunce; a euphemism for “an ass.”
· ·
Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.
· 
· 
· ·