quick-and-dirtyn.adj.
/ˌkwɪk(ə)n(d)ˈdəːti/, U.S. /ˌkwɪk(ə)nˈdərdi/ Originally and chiefly North American.
A. n. slang.
Also with capital initials. A cheap, inferior restaurant or diner. Cf. greasy spoon n. at greasy adj. Compounds 2, quick-lunch n. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > eating > eating place > [noun] > eating-house or restaurant > cheap eating-house
hash house1865
hashery1867
beanery1887
quick-and-dirty1892
one-arm lunch room1912
panciteria1912
one-arm joint1915
one-arm lunch1922
greasy spoon1925
one-arm1940
1892 Pittsburg (Pa.) Disp. 30 Oct. 4/8 He was a long-haired chap who had spent most of his time writing bad poetry and eating English mutton chops at a quick and dirty.
1908 Sheboygan (Wisconsin) Daily Press 1Sept. ‘Pawdon me,’ said Smith, ‘but where are you thinking of lunching?’ ‘Why, at the Quick and Dirty, of course,’ said the newspaper man.
1935 Charleston (W. Va.) Gaz. 22 Jan. 6/5 A ‘quick and dirty’ on 14th street.
1958 Life 14 Apr. 131 Candy stores, quick-and-dirtys and cellar clubs.
1968 Harper's Mag. Jan. 14/2 The office of the Massachusetts Electric Company was temporarily converted into a mock-up of a quick-and-dirty and its sign replaced with one that read Al's bean pot.
B. adj.
1. attributive. slang. Designating a restaurant or diner serving cheap, quickly prepared meals. Cf. quick-lunch n. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > eating > eating place > [adjective] > types of eating-house
stand-up1872
quick-lunch1891
sit-down1891
help-yourself1894
quick-and-dirty1908
serve-self1908
drive-through1918
tea-shoppy1931
full-service1934
snack bar1940
fast-casual1995
1896 Boston Globe 25 Oct. 35/1 I was far too proud to ever think of becoming a house maid or a waitress in one of those quick and dirty lunch places.]
1908 New Castle (Pa.) News 3 Apr. 4/2 A Pittsburg man dropped dead while eating in a ‘quick and dirty’ lunch room the other day. It's a wonder more are not killed that way.
1910 Washington Post 31 July 4 Being a dishwasher in a ‘quick and dirty’ restaurant.
1937 Mansfield (Ohio) News Jrnl. 20 May 7/5 I yearn for things like flapjack and bacon in that quick and dirty cafe around the corner.
1955 Kingsport (Tennessee) Times 30 Nov. 4/2 Twenty years ago a boy named Johnny Johnston got a job as a busboy in a depression-laden quick-and-dirty restaurant to support himself.
2. colloquial. Done or produced hastily but effectively; makeshift.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > exchange > substitution > [adjective] > poor or temporary
stopgapa1681
makeshift1683
makeshifty1858
quick-and-dirty1939
1939 ‘L. Short’ Bounty Guns 11 There's the deal... Is it quick and dirty?
1951 Jrnl. Amer. Statist. Assoc. 46 309 Some statisticians are interested in developing ‘quick and dirty’ methods.
1977 Sci. News 24 Dec. 438/3 A study by Oak Ridge National Laboratory concluded that any country with access to spent fuel could build a ‘quick and dirty’ reprocessing plant to produce bomb-grade plutonium.
1981 T. Kidder Soul of New Machine (1982) vi. 110 If you can do a quick-and-dirty job and it works, do it.
1997 T3 Feb. 100/3 The QuickCam is just perfect. Use it over the Net as a cheap videoconferencing device..or use it as a quick 'n' dirty capture tool, or whatever.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1892