whistle Dixie

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Dix·ie 1

 (dĭk′sē)
A region of the southeast United States, usually comprising the states that joined the Confederacy during the Civil War. The term was popularized in the minstrel song "Dixie's Land," written by Daniel D. Emmett (1815-1904) in 1859.

Dix·ie 2

 (dĭk′sē)
n.
Any one of several songs bearing this name, popular as Confederate war songs.
Idiom:
whistle Dixie Slang
To engage in unrealistically rosy fantasizing: "If you think mass transportation is going to replace the automobile I think you're whistling Dixie" (Henry Ford II).

[After Dixie1.]
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.
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References in periodicals archive
And both chasing debutante Whistle Dixie, in the mares beginners chase, and Hardline, in the bumper, are worthy of special attention.
They might just as well stick a wet finger in the air and whistle Dixie.
ONE FOR THE GUV'NR (5.10) can give Nico de Boinville another big winner while WHISTLE DIXIE (5.40) will take plenty of beating in the closing bumper.
On a poor day for favourites, Whistle Dixie came down on the bend in her race.
his Keith Gordon Elliott sends WHISTLE DIXIE (3.45) over for the Listed mares' bumper and she'll take all the beating.
Their red tape has now forced me into a corner and I'm going to whistle dixie every 15 minute until I get fed up."
Ms Easington, of Peulwys Lane, Old Colwyn said: "They can whistle Dixie for them.
A successor to his Man With No Name from those earlier Sergio Leone films and a forerunner to his Dirty Harry roles, lines like, "Are you gonna pull those pistols or whistle Dixie?" acted as a Stetson-wearing dry-run for the likes of, "Do you feel lucky?
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