different between canny vs sly

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?kæni/
• Rhymes: -æni
• Homophone: kanny

Etymology 1

Northern English dialect, from can (“to know”) (+ -y), from Middle English can, first and third person singular of cunnen, connen (“to be able, know how to”), from Old English cunnan (“to know how to, be able to”). Compare Scots canny, Old English cann (“knowledge, assertion”). More at can, cunning.

Adjective

canny (comparative cannier, superlative canniest)

1. Careful, prudent, cautious.
   • 1723-1737, Allan Ramsay, "Love Inviting Reason", in The Tea-Table Miscellany

     O ! as thou art bonny , be prudent and canny,
     And think on thy Jamie wha dotes upon thee

2. Knowing, shrewd, astute.
3. Frugal, thrifty.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:frugal

   • 1751, Allan Ramsay, The Gentle Shepherd, in Poems by Allan Ramsay (1751 edition):

     Whate'er he wins, I'll guide with canny care.

4. (Scotland, Northumbria) Pleasant, fair, favorable or agreeable to deal with.
   • 1783, Robert Burns, "Green Grow the Rashes O", Songs and Ballads

     But gie me a cannie hour at e'en,
     

     My arms about my dearie O;
     

     An' warl'y cares, an' warl'y men,
     

     Mae a' gae tapsalteerie O!

5. (Scotland, Northumbria) Gentle, quiet, steady.

Usage notes

In common modern usage, canny and uncanny are no longer antonyms, although they are not synonyms.

Derived terms

• cannily
• canniness

Related terms

Translations

Adverb

canny (not comparable)

1. (Northumbria) Very, considerably; quite, rather.

2. (Scotland, Northumbria) Gently, quietly; carefully, skilfully.

Translations

References

• Frank Graham (1987) The New Geordie Dictionary, ?ISBN
• Newcastle 1970s, Scott Dobson and Dick Irwin, [2]
• Northumberland Words, English Dialect Society, R. Oliver Heslop, 1893–4
• Todd's Geordie Words and Phrases, George Todd, Newcastle, 1977[3]

Etymology 2

can (“more or less cylindrical metal container”) +? -y

Adjective

canny

1. (especially of sound) Sounding as if it is coming through a tin can.
   • 1998 August 20, Kallel, Four speakers are a pain in the ass ;P, in 3dfx.products.voodoo2:

     The rear sounds sounded canny compared to the front ones. And you also have to adjust the volume so both pair of speakers are at the same level, […]

   • 2000 October 17, "Dreamin Man" (username), Lexicon MPX 100?, in rec.audio.pro, Usenet:

     I am using the stereo outs, I am getting nice reverb out of it but the probelm^[sic] is the entire sound is like i said like its coming through a can. even when in bypass mode it sound "canny".

     Thank you for your input.

     Stacey

   • 2001 October 8, Philippe, Antwerp - what a disappointment !!!!, in alt.music.depeche-mode, Usenet:

     I was approch. 3 meters from the stage and the sound was very good from there. But if you had seats way up at the sides or at the back I can understand that you could have experienced a "canny" sound.

   • 2006 March 23, "The Chris" (username), Re: Best Distortion Under $100, in alt.guitar, Usenet:

     The metal zone is too 'canny'.... Boss has a handful of great distortions - DS-1, Mega Distortion, DS-2, Heavy Metal....

   • 2010 May 24, [email protected], FlipHD Saturday SECTR5 LittleWing, in alt.guitar, Usenet:

     Not bad.. Although I think the 290 might have a slight edge on video crispness, I think the audio is better on the ultra HD. Hear more low end, and slightly less canny sounding from what I can tell.

Anagrams

• Nancy, nancy

Scots

Alternative forms

• cannie

Etymology

From the verb can (“to know”), from Middle English can, first and third person singular of cunnen, connen (“to be able, know how to”), from Old English cunnan (“to know how to, be able to”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kan?/, /k??n?/

Adjective

canny (comparative mair canny, superlative maist canny)

1. careful, cautious, prudent or steady
2. comfortable, gentle or cozy
3. attractive or pleasing
4. skilful, safe to work or deal with
5. fortunate, lucky
6. frugal, sparing
7. (archaic) with supernatural or occult powers

Adverb

canny (comparative mair canny, superlative maist canny)

1. carefully, cautiously

Related terms

• ca canny

English

Alternative forms

• sligh (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English sly, sley, sleigh, slei?, from Old Norse slægr, slœgr (“sly, cunning”, literally “capable of hitting or striking”), from Proto-Germanic *sl?giz (“lively, agile, cunning, sly, striking”), from Proto-Indo-European *slak- (“to hit, throw”). Cognate with Icelandic slægur (“crafty, sly”), Norwegian Nynorsk sløg (“sly”), Swedish slug (“sly”). Related to sleight, slay. In all likelihood, however, unrelated with Saterland Frisian slau (“sly, crafty”), Dutch sluw (“sly, cunning”), Low German slu (“sly, cunning”), German schlau (“clever, crafty”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sla?/
• Rhymes: -a?

Adjective

sly (comparative slier or slyer, superlative sliest or slyest)

1. Artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily.
2. (having a positive sense) Dexterous in performing an action, so as to escape notice

   Synonyms: nimble, skillful, cautious, shrewd

3. Done with, and marked by, artful and dexterous secrecy; subtle

4. Light or delicate; slight; thin.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:wily

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• sly in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• sly in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Adverb

sly

1. Slyly.

Anagrams

• Lys, YLS, YLs, lys, syl-

Lower Sorbian

Adjective

sly

1. Obsolete spelling of z?y (“bad, evil”)

Middle English

Alternative forms

• scle, slei, sley, scley, slegh, sleigh, sleygh, sligh, slygh, sle?, slei?, slei?h, sli?, sly?, scli?, sly?h, sleyh, slih, slyh

Etymology

From Old Norse slœgr, from Proto-Germanic *sl?giz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sli?/, /sl?i?/, /slix/, /sl?i?x/

Adjective

sly (plural and weak singular slye, comparative slyer, superlative sliest)

1. Judicious, considered, shrewd; having or indicative of great wisdom.
2. Adept, expert, quality; having or indicative of great expertise.
3. Sly, artful, wily; employing or being an example of deception.
4. (rare) Attractive; having good looks.
5. (rare) Unknown or hidden.

Related terms

• sleighly
• sleight
• slynesse

Descendants

• English: sly
• Scots: slee

References

• “sleigh, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-06-05.

Swedish

Noun

sly n

1. very young trees, in particular while growing very densely

Declension

Anagrams

• lys, syl, yls