loosey-goosey
See also: loosey goosey
English
Alternative forms
- loosey goosey
- loosy-goosy
Adjective
loosey-goosey (comparative more loosey-goosey or loosier-goosier or loosey-goosier, superlative most loosey-goosey or loosiest-goosiest or loosey-goosiest)
- (sports, originally baseball, Canada, US) relaxed [from 1940s]
- 1946 July 8, “By Jim Coleman”, in The Globe and Mail:
- They said that he couldn't hit International League pitching because he was too loosey-goosey at the plate.
- 1955, Trent Frayne, “Why Big-League Goalies CRACK Up”, in Maclean's:
- “All these other guys are scared to death,” the pinch-hitter kept telling himself as he walked towards the plate, “I’m loosey-goosey, I’m loosey-goosey, I’m loosey-goosey.”
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- (by extension, informal) laid back; disorganized; scattered
- 1991, Richard Perez-Pena, “Investment Manager Faces Charges of Securities Fraud”, in The New York Times:
- "Everything seemed to be real loosey-goosey," Mr. Williams said. " […] I had lunch with him three times, and each time he said, 'Oh, I forgot to bring the papers.'"
- 2004, Denis Wood, Five Billion Years of Global Change:
- I find the description wonderfully familiar, less the droogish quality, than the loosey-goosey opportunism.
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