batty

batty

See also: Batty

English

Etymology 1

bat +‎ -y. In sense “insane”, attested 1903, from expression have bats in one's belfry,[1] from tendency of bats to fly around erratically. Compare also batshit (“insane”) and squirrelly (“jumpy, eccentric”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbæti/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈbæti/, [ˈbæɾi]

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Homophone: baddie

• Rhymes: -æti

Adjective

batty (comparative battier, superlative battiest)

1. (slang) Mad, crazy, silly.
   • 1992 July 6, Edwina Currie, Diary:

     On Sunday’s David Frost Show, Baroness Thatcher looked quite batty to me, eyes rolling.

2. (obsolete) Belonging to, or resembling, a bat (mammal).
   • c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

     And from each other look thou lead them thus
     Till o'er their brows death-counterfeiting sleep
     With leaden legs and batty wings doth creep.

Derived terms

• batshit

Translations

mad, crazy, silly

Dutch: mal (nl) Esperanto: freneza (eo) Finnish: pöllö (fi), höperö (fi) French: fou (fr) German: verrückt (de) Gothic: 𐍅𐍉𐌸𐍃 (wōþs) Greek: τρελός (el) (trelós) Ancient: τρηρός (trērós) Italian: matto (it), pazzo (it) Japanese: 狂った (kurutta), 突飛 (toppi) Spanish: loco (es)

See also

• squirrelly

Etymology 2

From bottom, possibly influenced by botty or butt.[2]

Alternative forms

• bati

Noun

batty (plural batties)

1. (West Indian slang, MLE, MTE) The buttocks or anus.
   • 2014, Marlon James, A Brief History of Seven Killings, Oneworld Publications (2015), page 35:

     He kick the boy down and beat the boy back and batty and leg.

2. (Jamaica, UK, Canada, derogatory) A homosexual man.
   • 1996, Rudi Bleys, The geography of perversion:

     For example, recent Jamaican 'raga' lyrics by Buju Banton and Brand Nubian attach the affirmation of black identity to crude animosity towards homosexuality and contain offensive language against the 'batties' as icons of non-blackness.

Derived terms

• batty boy
• batty hole
• batty man
• batty rider

References

1. Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “batty”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
2. 2002, Frederic Gomes Cassidy, Robert Brock Le Page, Dictionary of Jamaican English (page 32).

---

Jamaican Creole

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbatɪ/
• Hyphenation: ba‧tty

Noun

batty (plural: batty dem or battys dem, quantified: batty)

1. butt, bottom, buttocks (buttocks)
   • 2009, Hezie Samuels, Soul Sand Grains: The Cost of No Change (in English), →ISBN, page 12:

     A voice along with the music was “chatting” the lyrics, “Gal batty broad, she come in a mi yard, me tek off mi shirt and [...]”

     The girl's butt is wide. She came to my home. I took off my shirt and [...]

   Dem a wear buss batty pants.

   They're wearing pants with rips by the butt.

Derived terms

• battyman
• batty rider
• bench and batty
• jonkro batty

See also

• when puss belly full, 'im seh rat batty bitta
• pat a cuss keckle a seh how him batty black suh

References

• Richard Allsopp, editor, Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage, Kingston, Jamaica: University of the West Indies Press, 1996 (2003 printing), →ISBN, page 84
• batty – jamaicans.com Jamaican Patois dictionary