student asking question

Is the expression "hoity-toity" commonly used?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

"Hoity-toity" is an expression used to describe something or someone that is very frivolous, pretentious, and thinks they are better than everyone else. In the video, this refers to french fries originally being a super fancy dish. "Hoity-toity" comes from the French phrase, "haut toit", which means "high roof", as though someone is looking down on people who are lower class and viewing them as lesser than themselves. "Hoity-toity" is mostly an American phrase, but it is older and not super common to use. Ex: This restaurant is too hoity-toity for me. Ex: Some rich people are super hoity-toity.

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