Mickey Mouse
English
Etymology
From Mickey, a diminutive of the given name Michael, + mouse, referring to the species of the character. Walt Disney chose the name Mickey Mouse in 1928, changing it from Mortimer Mouse at the suggestion of his wife, Lillian, who felt the original name was too formal for the character's playful nature.[1]
The adjective sense developed during the Second World War, after a large quantity of low-quality counterfeit Mickey Mouse watches flooded the UK.
Pronunciation
Audio (General American): (file) Audio (General Australian): (file)
Proper noun
- The most famous Disney cartoon character, an anthropomorphic mouse with a falsetto voice and a cheerful disposition.
Derived terms
Descendants
- → Albanian: Miushi Miki (calque)
- → Arabic: مِيكِي مَاوْس (mīkī māws)
- → Azerbaijani: Mikki Maus
- → Bulgarian: Мики Маус (Miki Maus)
- → Czech: Mickey Mouse
- → Danish: Mickey Mouse
- → Dutch: Mickey Mouse
- → French: Mickey Mouse
- → Georgian: მიკი მაუსი (miḳi mausi)
- → German: Micky Maus (calque)
- → Greek: Μίκυ Μάους (Míky Máous), μικιμάους (mikimáous)
- → Hebrew: מיקי מאוס (miki maus)
- → Hindi: मिकी माउस (mikī māus)
- → Japanese: ミッキーマウス (Mikkī Mausu)
- → Korean: 미키 마우스 (Miki Mauseu)
- → Macedonian: Мики Маус (Miki Maus)
- → Portuguese: Mickey Mouse
- → Romanian: Mickey Mouse, Miki Maus
- → Russian: Ми́кки Ма́ус (Míkki Máus)
- → Samoan: Miki Mausi
- → Spanish: Mickey Mouse
- → Tamil: மிக்கி மவுஸ் (mikki mavus)
- → Thai: มิกกี้ เมาส์ (mík-gîi-máo, mík-gîi-máos), มิคกี้เมาส์ (mík-gîi-máo)
- → Ukrainian: Мі́кі Маус (Míki Maus)
Translations
Disney character
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Adjective
- (idiomatic) Of inferior quality, poorly-run; too easy to be taken seriously, trivial.
- 1983 November 21, “Rangers get past Quebec in Overtime”, in Miami Herald:
- "They are putting a Mickey Mouse operation on the ice," added Gretzky, who extended apologies to New Jersey goaltenders Ron Low and Chico Resch.
- 1991 April 20, CNN_Novak:
- You mean, somebody who, for example, is a retired Army officer, has been teaching, as you do in the Army about half the time for about 30 years, you mean he couldn't go in and teach in the school' cause he didn't take some Mickey Mouse course in education at a state university?
- 1996 February 11, Dave van Dyck, “Braves, Indians Are Teams to Beat Again; Series Repeat Appears Likely As Camps Open”, in Chicago Sun-Times, SPORTS, page 18:
- California (78-67): This is no Mickey Mouse outfit, even though Disney is buying into the team. / The Angels didn't make many changes in personnel during the winter.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
of an item of dubious quality
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References
Danish
Etymology
1949, from English Mickey Mouse, notably being untranslated unlike this character in other Scandinavian languages.
Pronunciation
- Hyphenation: Mic‧key‧Mouse
Proper noun
- (cartoon) Mickey Mouse (One of the Disney cartoon characters, an anthropomorphic mouse who usually wears red shorts and is known for circular ears.)
Hyponyms
- (Disney characters): Anders And, Fedtmule, Pluto
Portuguese
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English Mickey Mouse.
Pronunciation
- (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈmi.kej ˈmaw.zi/ [ˈmi.keɪ̯ ˈmaʊ̯.zi]
- (Southern Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈmi.kej ˈmaw.ze/ [ˈmi.keɪ̯ ˈmaʊ̯.ze]
- (Portugal) IPA(key): /ˈmi.kɐj ˈmaw.zɨ/
- (Northern Portugal) IPA(key): /ˈmi.kej ˈmaw.zɨ/
- (Central Portugal) IPA(key): /ˈmi.kej ˈmaw.zɨ/
- (Southern Portugal) IPA(key): /ˈmi.ke ˈmaw.zɨ/
Proper noun
Mickey Mouse m
Spanish
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English Mickey Mouse.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˌmiki ˈmaus/ [ˌmi.ki ˈmau̯s]
- IPA(key): /ˌmɪki ˈmaus/ [ˌmɪki ˈmau̯s]
- Syllabification: Mic‧key Mou‧se