int. and sb. [f. FIDDLE sb. or v., used in a contemptuous sense with a nonsensical appendage.]
A. int. Nonsense!
a. 1784. Johnson, in Boswell’s Life (1848), Appdx. 837/1. All he [Johnson] said was, ‘Fiddle-de-dee, my dear.’
1825. J. Neal, Brother Jonathan, I. 182. Fiddle de dee then; I’ll venter it!
1865. Trollope, Belton Est., xxix. 352. ‘He is a man very estimable,—of estimable qualities.’ ‘Fiddle-de-dee. He is an ape,—a monkey to be carried on his mother’s organ.’
B. sb. Nonsense, absurdity.
Mod. That is all fiddle-de-dee.
