palsy-walsy

Related to palsy-walsy: genial

palsy-walsy

1. noun A friend. I'm surprised you haven't met Ricky's new palsy-walsy from school yet—they're together all the time.
2. adjective Friendly, but (usually) disingenuous. A: "Why are the popular kids palsy-walsy with us all of a sudden?" B: "They must want something from us."
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

palsy-walsy

(ˈpælziˈwælzi)
1. n. a good friend, pal, or buddy. (Also a term of address.) Meet my old palsy-walsy, John. We’ve known each other since we were kids.
2. mod. friendly; overly friendly. (Often with with.) Why is Tom so palsy-walsy with everyone?
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • a little
  • muck-raking
  • bulletproof
  • a few
  • as (something) as the next man/woman/person
  • as as the next man
  • as good, well, etc. as the next person
  • as the next person
  • appropriate for
  • sweet
References in periodicals archive
There is a happy land not so far away - a lovey-dovey land of palsy-walsy politics with a parliament that doles out milk-and-water mush.
Don't blame parents for sins of the child; Bringing up baby is tough job
Berniece Braegelman, called the problem of being "palsy-walsy with God." But Faley's Bonding with God: A Reflective Study of Biblical Covenant (Paulist, 151 pages, $12.95 paperback) is respectful in a way that would win Sr.
Bookshelf
Journalism critics--puritans?--who argue that reporters should not play palsy-walsy with the politicians they cover will squirm as Brinkley socializes with the Kennedy clan and even gets maneuvered into picking up a thousand dollar dinner tab rather than tell a Kennedy it was their party, not his.
David Brinkley
Yet when the game is tennis, TV commentators suddenly come over all palsy-walsy.
Charlie Catchpole column: Sickening as Venus, Steffi and Co get the first name touch
TAXIS: If it's about fuel saving and being all palsy-walsy with the ozone layer, then you can't beat the taxi.
PRESCOTT'S TRANSPORT OF DELIGHT