Dictionary

gee haw whimmy diddle en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈdʒi hɑ ˈwɪmi dɪdəl/ (General-American)
• (US) audio

Meanings

1. A wooden toy consisting of a notched stick with a smaller stick attached on the end. Rubbing the notched stick with another stick causes the smaller stick to spin; with practice the spin can be made to change from rightward (gee) to leftward (haw) and vice versa.
   • …some of the Blue Ridge Mountain folk toys. Each of the following runs about $2: spinning wooden top, fox and geese game, gee-haw whimmy diddle, bull roarer, corn cob pipe. 1974 November, Texas Monthly, article The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, page 93
   • Thousands of wooden versions are sold each year, and a Gee Haw Whimmy Diddle Competition is held every summer at Asheville's Folk Art Center. 2005, Martin Gardner, Smart Science Tricks:
   • Special events at the FolkArt Center...include Fiber Day in May, the World Gee Haw Whimmy Diddle Competition in August... 2003, Darwin Porter, Danforth Prince, Frommer's The Carolinas and Georgia:
   • Here you can pick up mountain toys such as the ‘gee-haw whimmy diddle,' a stick with a propeller that turns when you rub the notches on the stick. 2002, Jeremy Gray, Jeff Davis, China Williams, Lonely Planet Georgia and the Carolinas:

Forms

Synonyms

whimmy diddle