Nellie

Related to Nellie: Nellie Bly

nervous Nellie

Someone who is more timid, nervous, or anxious than is normal or reasonable. My mother's always a bit of a nervous Nellie around the grandkids, so she doesn't like to look after them. I'm too much of a nervous Nellie to ever do something like sky diving.
See also: Nellie, nervous

sit next to Nellie

old-fashioned To work alongside a person with a lot of experience so as to learn how best to do a job by watching them work. It used to be the case that new recruits would just sit next to "Nellie" when they joined the team; now, with how quickly technology is advancing, it's often the new recruits who have to explain how things work to the older members of staff.
See also: Nellie, next, sit

Whoa, Nellie!

1. cliché Said to any person, thing, or animal (especially a horse) that one is trying to get under control or coax into slowing down. "Whoa, Nellie!" he shouted as the bucking bronco tossed him to and fro. A: "Whoa, Nellie! Just cool your jets, big guy!" B: "Get off of me! I didn't do anything wrong!"
2. An exclamation of surprise or astonishment, especially when something is more intense than one expected. Whoa, Nellie. Now that is one strong drink you fixed me! A: "Whoa, Nellie. I think I need to sit down for a minute!" B: "A bit of a tougher hike than you were expecting, huh?"

Whoa, Nelly!

An exclamation of surprise. The phrase is generally thought to have originated as a command to slow down a horse (wherein "Nelly" is the horse's name). They're engaged already? Whoa, Nelly! Whoa, Nelly—what is going on in here?
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

Whoa, Nellie!

Rur. Wait! Stop! Tom: When I get that money, I'm gonna get me my own place, and then you and I can get married, and—Jane: Whoa, Nellie! When did I say I was going to marry you? Whoa, Nellie! Did you measure them boards before you started cuttin' 'em?
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

nervous Nellie

An unduly timid or anxious person, as in He's a real nervous Nellie, calling the doctor about every little symptom. This term does not allude to a particular person named Nellie; rather, the name was probably chosen for the sake of alliteration. [Colloquial; c. 1920]
See also: Nellie, nervous
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

sit next to Nellie

learn how to do a job or task by watching and copying someone experienced in it. informal
See also: Nellie, next, sit
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

nervous Nellie

n. any nervous person, male or female. Sue is such a nervous Nellie. She should calm down.
See also: Nellie, nervous
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

nervous Nellie

A person who worries unduly or is foolishly fearful. The term apparently originated in the late 1920s and referred to Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg, who served from 1925 to 1929. It soon was picked up and used for any individual, male or female, who showed such qualities. Richard Dyer used it in a review of Acis and Galatea, writing: “The direction presented him [Acis] as a kind of nervous Nellie, unable to decide which shirt to wear to impress Galatea” (Boston Globe, Nov. 23, 2004). See also worry wart.
See also: Nellie, nervous
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • Nelly
  • nervous Nellie
  • scare
  • rocking
  • nervous
  • (as) nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs
  • chair
  • a basket case
  • basket case
  • stand in awe
References in classic literature
Even Nellie, child that she was, understood the grimness of the battle before them.
He was twenty-three and Nellie sixteen when, worn out and broken down before her time, her resistance completely undermined, Mrs.
What had Nellie ever put into it that it should be half hers?
Wade toiled early and late, doing part of the chores and double her share of the Spring plowing that Martin, as well as Nellie, could attend school in Fallon.
Dust
The door opened; Miss Nellie and her music-master stood behind it, but blind Samson, who was so sensitive to presences, did not know they were there.
My Antonia
The report dates from 1908 and relates to pupil Nellie Bailey during her time at Fairfield Secondary School in Bristol, before she moved to Aberdeen.
Hopes to return 1908 report card to family
While Durty Nellie's in downtown Palatine will be closed for St.
Durty Nellie's to be closed St. Patrick's Day weekend
THREE beeches shaped into an "N" to woo a sweetheart named Nellie are in the running to be crowned European Tree of the Year.
Help Nellie's Tree run rings round rivals
Los Angeles, CA, September 21, 2018 --(PR.com)-- LA India Fashion Week will be hosted by Nellie Christine, aka FOODECALL.
Foodie Turned Fashionista: FOODECALL to Host LA India Fashion Week
Hylda Baker was a major music hall star before she found national fame as Nellie Pledge in Granada TV's most successful sitcom Nearest and Dearest.
HALL OF FAME
The face in the window was bad for business, so Nellie was told gruffly: "You there, get off!"
Abolish Christmas?
AT just a year old, little Nellie Cade has to be one of the youngest ever lifetime members of a country show.
Nellie back at show a year after dramatic entrance
Ten Days a Madwoman: The Daring Life and Turbulent Times of the Original "Girl" Reporter, Nellie Bly.
Noyes, Deborah. Ten Days a Madwoman: The Daring Life and Turbulent Times of the Original "Girl" Reporter, Nellie Bly