Noddy

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈnɒdi/

Definitions

1. A term describing a person who lacks intelligence and shows foolish behavior
2. A colloquial expression for someone who acts without thought and appears easily fooled
3. A label for an individual demonstrating a lack of wisdom and often engaging in silly or naive actions

Etymology: The word "noddy" is a good example of how a plain gesture can end up naming a person. The most likely source is "nod," the head movement, with the diminutive ending "-y" added, so a noddy is something like a little nodder. Its sense of a foolish person may come from that image of someone dozing or bobbing their head without much wit behind it, though the exact route is uncertain. A rival theory links it to "noddypoll," an obsolete form of "hoddypoll," meaning a fumbling, inept person. That shortening is possible, but the nod-based explanation is the one most commonly favoured, and the two need not be mutually exclusive. The same word also names a seabird, the grey noddy, a tern of the genus Anous. Its name may refer to the birds' nodding behaviour during courtship, which connects it back to the same gesture. Other senses, including a cutaway shot of a television interviewer nodding, are much later and were coined in the 1980s by the cultural theorist John Fiske.