Meaning
What does Diddly squat mean?
Diddly-squat is a US slang meaning “nothing, anything at all” in negative statements.
Origin
What's the origin of Diddly squat?
The term “diddly-squat” is a euphemistic alteration for the original term “doodley-squat” dating from 1930.
Doodley comes from the US slang “doodle” meaning “excrement”.
The original phrase was probably based on the observation of someone squatting while doodling outdoors.
Spread & Usage
How did Diddly squat spread?
The euphemism “diddly-squat” appeared in 1963 but it has only begun to become popular and widespread since 1980.
The expression has appeared in the famous US Tv series The Simpson many times and is frequently used nowadays in a lightly negative way, yet rather playful than offensive despite its origin.
The American contemporary Christian music singer Tasha Layton released a Christmas song entitled “ Diddly squat” in 2021 singing “But you ain’t gettin’ diddly squat ’cause you really messed up this year”.
A well-known farmer from the UK, Jeremy Clarkson named his farm in Cotswolds “Diddly Squat Farm”. This is a farm with a shop and an own Farm restaurant.
The everyday struggles of the farm were turned into an Amazon Prime reality in 2021 entitled “Clarkson’s Farm” which gave the term “diddly squat” even wider popularity and a higher number of search records on Google though in a different context.