Where does the saying whoopsie daisy come from?

Alas, as with many etymologies, there's a lot of uncertainty. Terms such as "up-a-daisy" dates to the early 1700s, as an encouragement to a child who has fallen to stand up, or as an exclamation upon lifting a child. It's basically a nonsense phrase, presumably intended to amuse the little ones. Variants include "upsi-daisy" or "upsy-daisy" from the 1860s as well as "upsa-daisy" . . . any of them with or without hyphens.



The first use of "whoops-a-daisy" per se is around 1925, in a New Yorker cartoon. It's an expression of surprise or dismay, specifically upon discovering one's own error. The modern-day equivalent would be "D'oh!", I'm afraid, which is much less expressive. The term was shortened to "whoops" by 1937, and appears in that form in a letter by Ezra Pound, no less. One assumes that it was related to the expression "to whoop," as in giving "whoops of joy." That usage goes back to the early 1600s.

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The first use of "whoops-a-daisy" per se is around 1925, in a New Yorker cartoon. It's an expression of surprise or dismay, specifically upon discovering one's own error. The modern-day equivalent would be "D'oh!", I'm afraid, which is much less expressive. The term was shortened to "whoops" by 1937, and appears in that form in a letter by Ezra Pound, no less. One assumes that it was related to the expression "to whoop," as in giving "whoops of joy." That usage goes back to the early 1600s.

1 month ago

Yahoo! Answers - Where does the saying "whoops a daisy" come from?

... but only the definitions are used and not the origin so no idea sorry ... For you Brits, the term "whoopsie" is apparently a child's word for excrement. ...

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Where does the saying whoopsie daisy come from?
It's derived from "up-a-daisy." I answered this question once before, but I can't find the place in the archives. The "up" in "up-a-daisy" (said when lifting a child) means up, and the "daisy" is the same "daisy" as in "lackadaisy." "Lackadaisy" is an extended form of "lack-a-day" (obsolete or archaic), from "Alack-a-day!"--an exclamation originally meaning "Shame or reproach to the day" or "Woe worth the day." "Alack" probably comes from "ah" (= Ah!) plus "lack" (= failure, fault, reproach, disgrace, shame). All this information comes from the Oxford English Dictionary.



See "oops-a-daisy," The Mavens' Word of the Day (February 24, 2000) at

http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pp...