shoofly

[shoo-flahy] /ˈʃuˌflaɪ/

noun, plural shooflies.

a child's rocker having a seat supported between two boards cut and painted to resemble animals.

Origin

1860-65, Americanism; shoo + fly²

Word Origin and History for shoo-fly

interj.

admonition to a pest, by 1867 (in baseball slang), from shoo (v.) + fly (n.). Popularized by a Dan Bryant minstrel song c.1870, which launched it as a catch-phrase that, according to H.L. Mencken, "afflicted the American people for at least two years." Shoo-fly pie is attested from 1935.

Slang definitions & phrases for shoo-fly

shoo-fly

noun

A police officer, often in plainclothes, set to watch other police officers: Fuck the shooflies. I never took a nickel from anybody

[1877+ Police; fr a common admonition to a fly or other pest, popularized by a Dan Bryant minstrel song about 1870, and which, according to H L Mencken, ''afflicted the American people for at least two years'' as a catch phrase]