linsey-woolsey
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See also: linseywoolsey
English
Etymology
Diminutive of linen and wool. See -y, -ey.
Noun
linsey-woolsey (countable and uncountable, plural linsey-woolseys)
- A fabric made of both linen and wool.
- 1599, Nashe, “To His Readers, Hee Cares Not What They Be”, in Nashes Lenten Stuffe, , London: [Thomas Judson and Valentine Simmes] for N L and C B , →OCLC:
- I had as lieue haue no ſunne, as haue it ſhine faintly, no fire, as a ſmothering fire of ſmall coales, no cloathes, rather then weare linſey wolſey.
- (figurative, archaic) Worthless material; nonsense; gibberish.
- c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :
- what linsey-woolsey hast thou to speak