Havey-cavey

Question

I came across this expression in another newsgroup. The sentence ended "... so there's no need to pass things around havey-cavey."

Google gives only one citation from a site
http://www.susans-stories.co.uk/alchemy3 gen.htm. There a sentence runs, "Today the house is all havey-cavey."
I get the sense of it meaning turmoil or without order. Any other ideas?

(By the way, Alchemy has the makings of a rattling good yarn. Who is Susan? And where does Calista Echo fit into the scheme of things?)

Cheers, Sage

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]I came across this expression in another newsgroup. The sentence ended "... so there's no need to pass things around ... "Today the house is all havey-cavey." I get the sense of it meaning turmoil or without order. Any other ideas?[/nq]
No it means "surreptitously", "secretly". It's outdated English schoolboy slang. The root is the Latin cave , "beware", and the "havey" is another of those random rhyming additions like "harum scarum". The Google reference is erroneous.
Matti

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I came across this expression in another newsgroup. The sentence ended "... so there's no need to pass things around ... "Today the house is all havey-cavey." I get the sense of it meaning turmoil or without order. Any other ideas?[/nq]
Jonathon Green gives:
havey cavey / havy cavy /adj./ (late 18C-mid 19C)

1 higgledy-piggledy, confused, doubtful; thus /on the havey-cavey/,questioning, doubting.

2 drunken(dial.)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]I came across this expression in another newsgroup. The sentence ... of it meaning turmoil or without order. Any other ideas?[/nq]
[nq:1]Jonathon Green gives: havey cavey / havy cavy /adj./ (late 18C-mid 19C) 1 higgledy-piggledy, confused, doubtful; thus /on the havey-cavey/, questioning, doubting. 2 drunken (dial.)[/nq]
Next time you see Mr Green you can tell him that he's been duped. Just look at all the Googled usages of the thing, and you'll see that the preponderance are in Regency-style novels, Heyer and Austen making much of the running, and that it means "secretive", "suspicious", "surreptitious" and other words beginning with 's'.

Matti

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Jonathon Green gives: havey cavey / havy cavy /adj./ (late 18C-mid 19C) 1 higgledy-piggledy, confused, doubtful; thus /on the havey-cavey/, questioning, doubting. 2 drunken (dial.)[/nq]
[nq:1]Next time you see Mr Green you can tell him that he's been duped. Just look at all the Googled ... Austen making much of the running, and that it means "secretive", "suspicious", "surreptitious" and other words beginning with 's'. Matti[/nq]
"All the Googled references"? I raised only one, as I noted in the first post. I know Google is supposed to be one's friend but you are suggesting it's more your friend than mine.
Your mention of "Regency-style novels" I presume is supposed to answer my question about Calista Echo. Are you then suggesting that Alchemy 3 is a spoof?
I had thought about a connection with "cave (cavey beware)" as in "Watch out, Old Quelchy's coming," a la Bunter.
But I wanted to clear up the origin of the havey bit.

Cheers, Sage

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Next time you see Mr Green you can tell him ... means "secretive", "suspicious", "surreptitious" and other words beginning with 's'.[/nq]
[nq:1]"All the Googled references"? I raised only one, as I noted in the first post. I know Google is supposed to be one's friend but you are suggesting it's more your friend than mine.[/nq]
I googled without angle brackets (and without hyphen), and I got 103 references. Are you really only getting one?
[nq:1]Your mention of "Regency-style novels" I presume is supposed to answer my question about Calista Echo. Are you then suggesting that Alchemy 3 is a spoof?[/nq]
The two names mean absolutely nothing to me, I'm afraid. I'm saying that the majority of the references were to Heyer and Austen novels in which the thing was used.
[nq:1]I had thought about a connection with "cave (cavey beware)" as in "Watch out, Old Quelchy's coming," a la Bunter. But I wanted to clear up the origin of the havey bit.[/nq]
I think you're spot-on with the "cave", and I believe the "havey" has no inherent meaning it was added simply for its rhyming function.

Matti

Usenet · Answer

Aha! I asked Google to Define havey-cavey. It seemed the way to do it. That's where Calista Echo and Alchemy 2 came from.

I'll try your way later this week-end.
Cheers, Sage

Havey-cavey

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