E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Dicky (A),
in George III.’s time, meant a flannel petticoat. It was afterwards applied to what were called false shirts—i.e. a shirt front worn over a dirty shirt, or in lieu of a shirt. These half-shirts were first called Tommies.
“A hundred instances I soon could pick ye—
Without a cap we view the fair,
The bosom heaving alto bare,
The hips ashamed, forsooth, to wear a dicky.”
1
Peter Pindar: Lord Auckland’s Triumph.
So again:—
“And sister Peg, and sister Joan,
With scarce a flannel dicky on … .”
2
Middlesex Election, letter iv.
(Hair, whalebone, or metal vestments, called dress-improvers, are hung on women’s backs, as a “dicky” is hung on a coach behind.)
