different between netty vs tomcat

English

Alternative forms

• nettie, neddy

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?n?ti/
• Rhymes: -?ti

Etymology 1

net (“elegant, neat”) +? -y (“forming adjs. of slightly lesser degree”)

Adjective

netty (comparative nettier, superlative nettiest)

1. (obsolete, rare) Neat, well-groomed, natty.
   • 1573, Thomas Tusser, "Points of Huswifrie" in Fiue Hundreth Points of Good Husbandry:

     How prettie, how fine and how nettie,
     Good huswife should yettie.

Etymology 2

net (“openwork fabric mesh”) +? -y (“forming adjectives”)

Adjective

netty (comparative nettier, superlative nettiest)

1. Netted: made of or employing a net.
   • 1587, Leonard Mascall, The Booke of Cattell: Sheep, p. 214:

     Ye ought for to keepe them close, till the day haue taken the gellie or netty rime, from the earth.

2. Netlike.

Etymology 3

Of uncertain etymology. Proposed derivations include a corruption of necessary, an euphemism for outhouse; French nettoyer (“to cleanse”); and Italian gabbinetti (“toilets”).

Noun

netty (plural netties)

1. (Tyneside) An outhouse: an outbuilding used as a lavatory.
   • 1978, John Lewis, Uncertain Sound, Ch. iii, p. 75:

     A line of pit cottages... tiny back gardens with outside lavatories, ‘netties’, some of them emptied twice a week by the council.

   • 1992 May 4, The Independent, p. 13:

     Our toilet was an outside netty shared between two or three families, where you sat on a hole and hoped the cat wouldn't jump at your backside.

2. (Tyneside) Any other place or fixture used for urination and defecation: a lavatory; a toilet.
   • 1903, English Dialect Dictionary, Vol. IV, p. 255:

     Netty, a privy or water-closet... A common name, amongst the working classes... In common use. In my recollection it was looked upon as a euphemism.

Usage notes

Originally reckoned euphemistic.

Synonyms

• (outhouse): See Thesaurus:bathroom
• (toilet): See Thesaurus:toilet

References

• A Dictionary of North East Dialect, Bill Griffiths, 2005, Northumbria University Press, ?ISBN
• Newcastle 1970s, Scott Dobson and Dick Irwin, [1]
• Todd's Geordie Words and Phrases, George Todd, Newcastle, 1977[2]
• The Geordie Netty: A Short History and Guide, Frank Graham, 1986, Butler Publishing; New edition, ?ISBN[3]

English

Alternative forms

• tom cat, tom-cat

Etymology

From Tom + cat, popularised by The Life and Adventures of a Cat (1760), by an anonymous author, in which the male cat was called Tom.

Noun

tomcat (plural tomcats)

1. A tom, a male cat.

Translations

Verb

tomcat (third-person singular simple present tomcats, present participle tomcatting, simple past and past participle tomcatted)

1. To prowl for sexual gratification.
   • 1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber and Faber 2003, p. 539:

     He would not go roaming the streets tom-catting like Mr Schick.

Derived terms

• tomcat around

See also

• caterwaul

Anagrams

• Cottam