Does anyone have the origin of "thingy"? The first I ever heard the word was in a Monty Python sketch (possibly this one?).
I know that etymologically, it's not a huge leap to add a y to a word, (although I don't think Shakespeare ever did it); half of the dialog in Buffy the Vampire Slayer is some word + y.
But I was curious about the word thingy because it came up in the current Unshelved/ Tutor.com semi-controversy-that-really-isn't, in the ad for the "online thingy" on the Unshelved page.
And it's just a funny thing. Because thing is already a "placeholder" word. It's a descriptor for the unidentified. So to add a y, in my opinion, makes it something else.
Now it's not just a placeholder word for the something, it transforms into a something. I don't think thing and thingy are identical words, or even synonyms. Adding the y is like adding a smiley, like an alphabetical emoticon. It does something, but I'm not sure what.
That's why I ask, Thingy?
