jessamy

[prettygoodword]

jessamy (JESS-uh-mee) - n., jasmine; like jasmine in color or perfume; (obs.) a dandy.


I don't have when the dandy sense was current slang, but my guess is it's a 19th century Americanism.

---L.

Comments

[thistleingrey.livejournal.com]

OED2 (1900) says, in part,

4. A man who scents himself with perfume or who wears a sprig of jessamine in his buttonhole (?); a dandy, a fop. See jemmy n. 1b.
1753 J. Hawkesworth Adventurer 20 Oct. 176 You have frequently used the terms Buck and Blood,..but you have not considered them as the last stages of a regular procession..the scale consists of eight degrees; Greenhorn, Jemmy, Jessamy, Smart, Honest Fellow, Joyous Spirit, Buck, and Blood.

...though s.v. "jemmy" the first quotation is dated 1786.

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

So 18th century -- interesting.

---L.