Affectedly delicate or refined.[Origin uncertain; probably alteration of namby-pamby.]
We do know where the term namby-pamby came from - from the name of poet Ambrose Philips (1674-1749). His contemporary literary rivals, poets Henry Carey, John Gay, Alexander Pope, and Jonathan Swift poked fun at him and Carey coined namby-pamby from his name: amby after first syllable of Ambrose and rhyming compound pamby after Philips.
Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=niminy-piminy
"'I detest rude, unladylike girls!'
'I hate affected, niminy-piminy chits!'"
Louisa May Alcott; Little Women; 1868."'We have far too much niminy-piminy music,' wrote W.R. Anderson in The Gramophone; music 'afraid to let itself go, or having nowhere to go if it did'."
Geoff Brown; Classical Collector; The Times (London, UK); Mar 21, 2000.
This week's theme: reduplicatives.
Pronunciation:
http://wordsmith.org/words/niminy-piminy.wav
http://wordsmith.org/words/niminy-piminy.ram
Permalink:
http://wordsmith.org/words/niminy-piminy.html