dido

Unknown. The "trick" sense might come from the trick of Dido, queen of Carthage, who, having bought as much land as a hide would cover, is said to have cut it into thin strips long enough to enclose a spot for a citadel.

• IPA^(key): /ˈdaɪdəʊ/
• Rhymes: -aɪdəʊ

dido (plural didos or didoes)

1. (slang, regional) A fuss, a row.
   • 1928, Eugene O'Neill, Strange Interlude, Act Four, page 139:

     … she always had strong physical attraction for me … that time I kissed her … one reason I’ve steered clear since … take no chances on emotional didos …

   • 1974, GB Edwards, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, New York, published 2007, page 30:

     I remember Raymond telling me years later how when he lived at home, if his mother heard he had been seen as much as talking to a girl, she would kick up a dido.

2. A shrewd trick; an antic; a caper.
   • 1838, Joseph Clay Neal, Charcoal Sketches; Or, Scenes in a Metropolis, page 201:

     Young people," interposed a passing official, "if you keep a cutting didoes, I must talk to you both like a Dutch uncle.

   • 1969, Maya Angelou, chapter 10, in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings‎, New York: Bantam, published 1971, page 55:

     Our youngest uncle, Billy, was not old enough to join in their didoes. One of their more flamboyant escapades has become a proud family legend.

dido (not comparable)

1. (US) Misspelling of ditto.

• doid

From Latin digitus (“finger”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈdido/
• Rhymes: -ido
• Syllabification: di‧do

dido m (plural didos)

1. finger
2. toe

• Bal Palazios, Santiago (2002) “dido”, in Dizionario breu de a luenga aragonesa, Zaragoza, →ISBN

• dodo

• IPA^(key):
• Rhymes: -ido
• Hyphenation: di‧do

dido (accusative singular didon, plural didoj, accusative plural didojn)

1. dodo (bird)

• disdō

From dis- +‎ dō (“to give”).

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈdiː.doː/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈdi.do/,

dīdō (present infinitive dīdere, perfect active dīdidī, supine dīditum); third conjugation

1. to give out, spread abroad, disseminate, distribute, scatter

• dīditus
• dīdimus

• “dido”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “dido”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• dido in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “dido”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “dido”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray