I see your thingie and raise you a thingamajig

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The quintessential thingie

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Where did that mere wisp of a word “thingie" come from, and what -- more or less -- does it mean?

Could it be of Scots origin? After all, “a bonnie wee thingie” would not be out of place in one of Robert Burns’ poems.  The Essential Scots Dictionary gave a different spin on the word than in the United States, for in Scotland, “a wee thingie” or “wee thing” means “rather, a little” as in “a wee thingie earlier this mornin’.” [1]

The massive Webster’s Third New International Dictionary listed a “thingy,” meaning “of, relating to or having the characteristics of things: REAL, MATERIAL” or “concerned with or devoted to real things or practical matters.” The highly abstract noun “thinginess” is derived from this adjective. [2]

It was Richard A. Spears, in NTC’s Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions, who listed “thingy” next to “thingamajig,” with the meaning of something whose specific name or designation is unknown or has been forgotten. [3]

The New Dictionary of American Slang equated “thingy” to “gizmo,” and quoted Patrick Mann’s definition of a gargoyle: “One of those thingies on the roofs of churches that the water spouts through.” [4]

Browsing other dictionaries, I found many siblings of “thingie/thingy”: thingamabob; thingumbob;  thing-o-me; thing-o-my; thingamy; thingammy; thingummy, thingummie and  thingumitum. The Australian equivalent of "thingie" is “thingo.” [5]

The Oxford English Dictionary even gave the earliest dates when some of these words were first attested in our language: thingum (1680); thingumbob (1751); thingummy (1796). [6]

“Thingy” also has a rather naughty anatomical sense.

I once asked a native speaker of Spanish which of the two forms of “mar” (sea) to use and under which circumstances.   She replied that the masculine (“el mar”) was more matter-of-fact and that the feminine (“la mar”) evoked a sense of poetry.  Now, as a native speaker of English, I have a “gut feeling” that “thingy” is not exactly equivalent to “thingamabob,” “thingamajig” and “gizmo.” With its cutesy diminutive ending (akin to “piggie,” “kitty” and “doggy”), it creates a slightly more furtive and nonchalant impression than the other words and, to my mind, indicates that the speaker could come up with the real word if necessary.

As for the root word itself, “thing” comes from Anglo-Saxon (“thing,” “thinc, “thincg”).   “Thing” originally meant “discussion.” There was also the verb, “thingian” (to discuss) and a derivative noun, “thingere” (a pleader).  [7]

To finish, here are the first two stanzas of “All Hail Glade Scented Oil Thingy” by D.W. Cunningham, which appeared in the December 2005 issue of Poetry Magazine:

 “ The lot of him
   was reduced ... or used
   to what the clinic called
   watchful waiting.
 
 “  So ... that cypress ...
   the pungency
   and nodding
   in late-afternoon fillips
   ... agreed with him.” [8]

Sources Cited:

[1] Macleod, Iseabail and Pauline Cairns (Editors). The Essential Scots Dictionary. Edinbugh, Scotland: The University of Edinburgh Press, 1996; p. 354.

[2] Webster's Third New International Dictionary. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, Inc., 1993; p. 2376.

[3] Spears, Richard A. NTC's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions. Lincolnwood, Illinois: National Textbook Company, 1989; p. 396.

[4] Chapman, Robert L. (Editor). The New Dictionary of American Slang. New York: Harper & Row, 1986; p. 435.

[5] Patridge, Eric. Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1070; p. 1464.

[6] Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press, 1061; p. 310.

[7] Skeat, Walter W.  Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. New York: Capricorn Books, 1963; p. 552.

[8] Cunningham, D.W. "All Hail Glade Scented Oil Thingy." Poetry 187.3 (Dec 2005): 208(1). General OneFile. Gale. DISCUS Remote Patron Access ITWeb. Accessed on November 4, 2007.