gee haw whimmy diddle

plural gee haw whimmy diddles · alternative gee-haw whimmy diddle · alternative gee haw whammy diddle · alternative gee-haw whammy diddle

1. A wooden toy consisting of a notched stick with a smaller stick attached on the end. Rubbing the notched stick with another stick causes the smaller stick to spin; with practice the spin can be made to change from rightward (gee) to leftward (haw) and vice versa.

   Special events at the FolkArt Center...include Fiber Day in May, the World Gee Haw Whimmy Diddle Competition in August...

   2003, Darwin Porter, Danforth Prince, Frommer's The Carolinas and Georgia

   3 more examples

   …some of the Blue Ridge Mountain folk toys. Each of the following runs about $2: spinning wooden top, fox and geese game, gee-haw whimmy diddle, bull roarer, corn cob pipe.

   1974 November, Texas Monthly, article The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, page 93

   Here you can pick up mountain toys such as the ‘gee-haw whimmy diddle,' a stick with a propeller that turns when you rub the notches on the stick.

   2002, Jeremy Gray, Jeff Davis, China Williams, Lonely Planet Georgia and the Carolinas

   Thousands of wooden versions are sold each year, and a Gee Haw Whimmy Diddle Competition is held every summer at Asheville's Folk Art Center.

   2005, Martin Gardner, Smart Science Tricks

   Synonyms: whimmy diddle