Now Sc. and north. dial. Forms: 5 tethee, 6 tethy(e, 9 teathy, teethy. [Etymology obscure: app. another form of TEETY, TETTY.] Touchy, testy, peevish, crabbed.
c. 1460. Towneley Myst., iii. 186. She is full tethee, ffor litill oft angre, If any thyng wrang be, Soyne is she wroth.
1566. Drant, Horace, V. H iv b. The testie, tethye, waspishe churle, with pratlynge is offended.
1825. Brockett, N. C. Words, Teethy, cross, fretful, peevish; generally spoken of children.
1825. Jamieson, s.v., ‘A teethy answer,’ a tart reply.
1828. Craven Gloss., Teathy, peevish, cross.
1892. Boyd, 25 Yrs. St. Andrews, II. 96. Nor did he fail to condemn wrong doing in a fashion which Scotch folk call teethy.
Hence Teethily adv., testily.
1879. P. R. Drummond, Perthshire in Bygone Days, xiv. 81. The Colonel pointed to a letter lying open on the table and said teethily [etc.].
