DANDY

dandy, a word of uncertain origin which about 1813-1816 became a london colloquialism for the exquisite or fop of the period. it seems to have been in use on the scottish border at the end of the 18th century, its full form, it is suggested, being "jack-a-dandy," which from 1659 had a sense much like its later one. it is probably ultimately derived from the french _dandin_, "a ninny or booby," but a more direct derivation was suggested at the time of the uprise of the regency dandies. in _the northampton mercury_, under date of the 17th of april 1819, occurs the following: "origin of the word 'dandy.' this term, which has been recently applied to a species of reptile very common in the metropolis, appears to have arisen from a small silver coin struck by king henry