ding-a-ling

(dĭng′ə-lĭng)

n. Informal

A person who is scatterbrained or eccentric.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ding-a-ling

1. Brit a slang word for telephone¹

2. Brit a slang word for bell¹¹

3. informal US a foolish person

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ding-a-ling

(ˈdɪŋ əˌlɪŋ)

n. Informal.

a stupid, foolish, or eccentric person.

[1930–35; rhyming compound imitative of a bell]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

ding-a-ling

noun

Slang. A person regarded as strange, eccentric, or crazy:

crackpot, crazy, eccentric, lunatic.

Informal: crank, loon, loony.

Slang: cuckoo, dingbat, kook, nut, screwball, weirdie, weirdo.

Translations

ding-a-ling

[ˌdɪŋəˈlɪŋ] N

1. [of bell, telephone] → tilín m

2. (US) → bobo/a m/f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

ding-a-ling

→ Klingeling nt; (= fire engine) → Tatütata nt

(US inf: = fool) → Depp m (inf)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

References in periodicals archive

CHUCK BERRY Letter to BBC director general Sir Charles Curran, January 1, 1973: "Now that the controversy over the pop record 'My Ding-A-Ling has died down, we feel it important that you should understand our reasons for criticising the Top of the Pops presentation of the disc.

When Mary hit rock bottom; How the campaigner tried to ban pop's filthiest acts from our screens

MARY Whitehouse tried in 1972 to get Chuck Berry's novelty song My Ding-a-Ling banned from the BBC.

I think Mary Whitehouse was right... TV sex has robbed kids of innocence

1972 NOVELTY record My Ding-A-Ling proved the only number one hit for American performer Chuck Berry.

Dec6 It happened today..

1972: IF you were tuning into Top Of The Pops or Radio 1 this week in 1972, you would have found 50s rock and roller Chuck Berry back in the chart at number one with My Ding-A-Ling, the ultimate double entendre song!

In the charts: 1972, 1982 and 1992

She demanded that the word 'knickers' be removed from The Beatles' I Am The Walrus' before it was broadcast on TV; she was outraged by Mick Jagger's suggestive positioning of his microphone; she was disgusted at Chuck Berry's My Ding-a-Ling.

pIf only they were all like that nice Mr Savile! Sick TV star was a hit with nation's 'moral guardian' Mary Whitehouse

He told the Radio Times: "I've kept the first record I ever bought, which was Chuck Berry's My Ding-a-Ling, and I have an old Bush record player that takes 40 seconds to warm up should I ever want to play it.

claire claire Talking WM sense

To start the ball rolling, what about My Ding-a-Ling, Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick, Brass In Pocket and, of course, anything by The Pointer Sisters?

Lisa's all shook up

And not to forget another little ditty called My Ding-A-Ling with which he topped the British charts with in the mid-1970's.

Irish Heartbeat: The real King of rock 'n' roll

When I asked him why, he said "they lack the proper equipment to fiddle with my ding-a-ling. I wouldn't let my wife fiddle with my ding-a-ling, and that's why I live here now." So now I work on his end of the floor.

It's a woman's world

Chuck Berry:"One teacher told us of how she found a class of small boys with their trousers undone, singing My Ding-a-Ling and giving it the indecent interpretation.

Mary Whitehouse's greatest hits

In 1972 had the first and only chart-topper of his career with My Ding-A-Ling, and 1986 fittingly saw him become the first inductee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Chuck Berry hitting town