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

by **dsteve54** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 6:33 am

"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.

by **skinem** » Mon Sep 07, 2009 2:40 pm

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?

by **dsteve54** » Mon Sep 07, 2009 2:52 pm

skinem wrote: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?

"Since life as......untimeliness of an answer"
....Well, unlike the olden days with this site, that seems to be true now, but it is not incumbent on you to have to be the one to always step to the plate; it is supposed to be a cooperative venture, sort of like socialism. But I thank you for responding.

It is quicker for me to just provide a website than to explain:
http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/tradi ... 200289.htm

I guess nowadays we may just announce it to a child as, "Which hand is it in?"

by **skinem** » Mon Sep 07, 2009 6:41 pm

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!

by **Perry** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 9:10 am

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

by **Stargzer** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 11:02 pm

"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.

by **LukeJavan8** » Mon Feb 01, 2010 5:55 pm

Chain saw???
Wow they've surely updated since I bought mine some
two decades ago in Switzerland (and I was able at that
time to bring it home with me.) Alas how times change.

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