jim-dandy

alternative jimdandy · alternative jim dandy

1. UScolloquialExcellent, outstanding.

   As its speed increased, and the black masses of chaparral went whizzing past on either side, the express messenger, lighting his pipe, looked through his window and remarked, feelingly: "What a jim-dandy place for a hold-up!"

   c. 1900, O. Henry, The Passing of Black Eagle

   1 more example

   We could not wait for Atticus to come home for dinner, but called and said we had a big surprise for him. He seemed surprised when he saw most of the back yard in the front yard, but he said we had done a jim-dandy job. "I didn't know how you were going to do it," he said to Jem, "but from now on I'll never worry about what'll become of you, son, you'll always have an idea."

   1960 July 11, Harper Lee, chapter 8, in To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC

plural jim-dandies · alternative jimdandy · alternative jim dandy

1. UScolloquialSomething that is a very superior example of its kind.

   The tattered man stood musing.

   1895 October, Stephen Crane, chapter X, in The Red Badge of Courage: An Episode of the American Civil War, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC, page 100