niminy-piminy

[nim-uh-nee-pim-uh-nee]

nim·i·ny-pim·i·ny

[nim-uh-nee-pim-uh-nee]
adjective
affectedly delicate or refined; mincing; effeminate: A niminy-piminy shyness makes frankness impossible.

Origin:
1795–1805; rhyming compound; compare namby-pamby

nim·i·ny-pim·i·ni·ness, noun
nim·i·ny-pim·i·ny·ism, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Niminy-piminy has a plethora of syllables.
So is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis. Does it mean:
an obscure term ostensibly referring to a lung disease caused by silica dust, sometimes cited as one of the longest words in the English language.
a white, crystalline, water-insoluble solid, C14H9Cl5, usually derived from chloral by reaction with chlorobenzene in the presence of fuming sulfuric acid: used as an insecticide and as a scabicide and pediculicide: agricultural use prohibited in the U.S.
Collins
World English Dictionary
niminy-piminy (ˈnɪmɪnɪˈpɪmɪnɪ)
 
adj
excessively refined; prim
 
[C19: imitative of a prim affected enunciation]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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