adj. (colloquial).—Shaky; unsteady: also TOTTLISH (or TOTTY). Hence TOTTLE, verb = to walk unsteadily; TOTTY-HEADED = giddy, harebrained (B. E. and GROSE); TOT = a simpleton: see BUFFLE and CABBAGE-HEAD.
1383. CHAUCER, The Canterbury Tales, ‘The Reeve’s Tale,’ 333. Myn heed is TOTY of my swynk to-night.
[?]. Colyn Blowbol’s Testament, MS. Rawl., C. 86.
| So TOTY was the brayn of his hede, | |
| That he desired for to go to bede. |
1819. SCOTT, Ivanhoe, xxxii. I was somewhat TOTTY when I received the good Knight’s blow.
1855. HAMMOND, Wild Northern Scenes, 207. Our little boat was light and TOTLISH; and, as I pressed the trigger of my rifle, it rolled slightly over.
1861. T. HUGHES, Tom Brown at Oxford, vi. When I looked up and saw what a TOTTERY performance it was, I concluded to give them a wide berth.
1889. WOOLSON, Jupiter Lights, in Harper’s Magazine, lxxix. June, 116. I find I can’t lift anything into this canoe alone—it’s so TOTTLISH.
