"handy" vs. so-called "handy-dandy"

dsteve54

"handy-dandy"

Do we sometimes say, "Wait a sec, while I get my handy-dandy Swiss Army knife" just because we like the echoic sound or was it an adaptation by extension of the child's game called "handy-dandy"?

Or is it because we are doubling up and saying "handy knife" and "dandy knife" in one fail swoop?

I just say it, but then again, "I am from Kansas", and that explains everything.

Ok, thanks.....life as we now know it depends on your timeliness.
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skinem · Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 2:40 pm Post subject:

Well, since life as you knew it has been irrevocably altered due to the untimeliness of an answer, I'll give you an answer--

Yes.

Obviously just a guess as I've never heard of the child's game you mentioned. Would you tell about it?
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dsteve54 · Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 2:52 pm Post subject:

skinem · Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 6:41 pm Post subject:

Ah, thanks for the link!

I think "handy-dandy" accomplishes a couple of things you mention...it just fits our penchant to play with words plus it has two meanings--handy as in useful--and dandy as in keen, cool, great!

...and my Swiss Army knife is handy-dandy!
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"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have."--Thomas Jefferson

Perry · Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 9:10 am Post subject:

Cute rhymes. But if I am holding something in my closed hand, I intend to keep it. Cool

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Stargzer · Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 11:02 pm Post subject:

"Handy-dandy" versus "Handy little."

How can I put it? I think of "handy-dandy" as more mockingly formal, and "handy little" as more informally facetious.

It's a matter of "Let me pull out my handy-dandy Swiss Army Knife" (with all 300 blades and tools on it, including the chain saw), versus "Let me pull out my handy little pocket knife" (with only three blades on it). Either way, neither one will make it through Airport Security. Confused

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