Humpty-dumpty
[huhmp-tee duhmp-tee] /ˈhʌmp ti ˈdʌmp ti/
noun
1.
an egg-shaped character in a Mother Goose nursery rhyme that fell off a wall and could not be put together again.
2.
(sometimes lowercase) something that has been damaged severely and usually irreparably.
/ˈhʌmptɪ ˈdʌmptɪ/
noun (mainly Brit)
1.
a short fat person
2.
a person or thing that once overthrown or broken cannot be restored or mended
noun
something or someone that cannot be restored once damaged; also written humpty dumpty
Word Origin
from nursery rhyme character
from French nursery rhyme hero (the rhyme first attested in English 1810), earlier “a short, clumsy person of either sex” (1785), probably a reduplication of Humpty, a pet form of Humphrey. Originally, humpty-dumpty was a drink (1690s), “ale boiled with brandy,” probably from hump and dump, but the connection is obscure and there might not be one.
‘It’s very provoking,’ Humpty Dumpty said, … ‘to be called an egg — very!’ [“Through the Looking-Glass,” 1872]
A nursery rhyme:
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall;
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again.
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