jolly hockey sticksint.adj.n.
/ˌdʒɒlɪ ˈhɒkɪ stɪks/, U.S. /ˌdʒɑli ˈhɑki stɪks/ humorous (originally and chiefly British).
A. int.
Used in representations or imitations of upper or upper-middle-class speech associated with a type of English public schoolgirl, esp. to express (mock) boisterous enthusiasm, excitement, exuberance, etc.
ΚΠ
1953 Daily Mirror 21 Jan. 10/2 Miss [Beryl] Reld's schoolgirl character had her first big hit in ‘Starlight Hour’ just over two years ago. Today her ‘Jolly hockey stick’ and ‘Absolute terminus’ are catch phrases.
1960 ‘J. Winton’ We saw Sea ii. 31 Cedric joined them. ‘Jolly hockey sticks, Julia,’ he said.
1979 H. Leonard Summer 37 Jan. It's mutual, then? How super. Richard. Yes, jolly hockey-sticks.
2008 Gloucestershire Echo (Nexis) 19 Nov. 4 I say old bean this redundancy and unemployment lark certainly is ‘bracing’... Jolly hockey sticks and all that. Wonder how old Charlie Ricketson-Smythe and Pongo Fforbes-Frobisher are managing? Perhaps they are having to cut down on the champagne and cigars.
2012 Belfast Tel. (Nexis) 17 Mar. 4 Oh hurrah and jolly hockey sticks! The Royals are once again out in force for another season of one-day events.
B. adj.
Designating a person (usually a girl or a woman) who resembles an upper or upper-middle-class schoolgirl, esp. in having a boisterous, enthusiastic, no-nonsense manner; (also) of, belonging to, or characteristic of such a person, group, or class.
ΚΠ
1957 Vogue Aug. 71 This sounds frightfully jolly hockey-sticks but has compensations: among them, a whole new world, unanchored in space and time.
1962 Times Lit. Suppl. 5 Oct. 781/4 A staunch jolly hockey-sticks English nurse.
1976 Guardian 28 May 13/6 A manner which would do well opening the choicest of country fetes, and a vocabulary rich with ‘chums’, ‘crumbs’, and bags of jolly hockey-sticks advice.
1989 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 21 Aug. (Guide section) 1 A good egg who's never shaken off the slightly jolly-hockey-sticks manner of the West Australian convent girl.
1993 H. Holt Uncertain Death ii. 16 I know she's dreadfully jolly hockey-sticks, but she does mean well.
2000 A. Bowyer Dawn French (2008) 19 Boarding-school life was a lot like Mallory Towers or St Clare's, the fictional jolly-hockey-sticks schools created by Enid Blyton.
C. n.
The outlook associated with such people; boisterous, enthusiastic, or hearty upper or upper-middle-class behaviour or attitudes.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > mental health > [noun] > sane conduct
no-nonsense1853
jolly hockey sticks1972
the mind > will > wish or inclination > willingness > [noun] > heartiness or zeal
goodwillOE
zealc1425
eagernessc1450
heartinessc1475
estudy1483
fanaticism1855
jolly hockey sticks1972
1972 Hansard Commons (Electronic ed.) 12 May 1738 Currently the image of campaigners has a shade of middle-class jolly hockey sticks about it.
1990 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 6 Nov. (Good Living section) 6 To the cynical observer it seemed to be a mixture of jolly hockey sticks and trendy name-dropping.
2006 Blueprint July 89/1 It becomes clear that this is a particular type of narrative. It's a mixture in tone of jolly hockey sticks and the chattering classes, rather than objective investigation.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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int.adj.n.1953