Where does “goody two shoes” come from?
goody two shoes (English) comes from English goody, from English Good, from Dutch goed, from Middle Dutch goet, from Old Dutch guot, from Proto-West Germanic gōd, from Proto-Germanic gudą, from Proto-Germanic gastiz — Derives abstract/action nouns from verb roots.
goody two shoes (English): A goody-goody; a person who is almost always perfectly well-behaved, with an implication of smugness
Definitions
- A goody-goody; a person who is almost always perfectly well-behaved, with an implication of smugness
Ancestry of “goody two shoes”, step by step
goody two shoes traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via English goody
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | goody | Used to indicate pleasure or delight; A small... |
| 2 | English | Good | Plato's metaprinciple of proper systemic function between principles; the fundamental Platonic form which enables knowledge and metacognition, from which other concepts such as truth, justice and virtue derive meaning |
| 3 | Dutch | goed | good; correct, right; all right, fine |
| 4 | Middle Dutch | goet | good |
| 5 | Old Dutch | guot | good |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | gōd | good |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | gudą | invoked one; god, deity |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | gastiz | stranger, guest |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | gʰóstis | stranger, host |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -tis | Derives abstract/action nouns from verb roots |
via English shoes
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | shoes | plural of shoe; Third-person singular simple... |
| 2 | English | shoe | A protective covering for the foot, with a bottom... |
| 3 | German | Schuh | shoe |
| 4 | Middle High German | schuo | — |
| 5 | Old High German | scuoh | shoe |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | skōh | shoe |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | skōhaz | shoe |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | skewk- | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)kew- | to caw, to howl; to cover, hide; to cover, hide,... |