This a random post from a random thought. But why should this one be any different from the others?
Recently someone called me a goody two-shoes in a jokey way. Curious about the history of the original goody two-shoes, this is what I found.
The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes is a children’s story published by John Newbery in London in 1765. The story popularized the phrase “goody two-shoes” as a descriptor for an excessively virtuous person or do-gooder.
The authorship of this is disputed. Oliver Goldsmith is the name most commonly associated with it, although the evidence is mostly circumstantial. ‘Anonymous’ is probably the wisest choice when naming an author of this book.
The story itself is a re-telling of the Cinderella story, which itself is an example of the Christian teaching that diligence reaps its reward in Heaven – what later came to be called ‘jam tomorrow’. Jam tomorrow is an expression for a never-fulfilled promise. Some pleasant event in the future, which is never likely to materialize.
‘Goody Two-Shoes’ is the name given to a poor orphan – Margery Meanwell. She is poor and only has one shoe. She is so delighted when given a pair of shoes by a rich gentleman that she keeps repeating that she has ‘two shoes’. By virtue of hard work she makes good and marries a wealthy widower – thus repeating the Cinderella theme of virtue eventually being rewarded.
A commonly accepted definition of a goody two-shoes today is a person who does everything right and always follows the rules. This is annoying, as in someone who always sits in the front of the classroom, waves their hand to answer every question and tattles on their classmates on the playground. To this I would add my personal definition, the classmate who sees that school is about to be dismissed and reminds the teacher that she hasn’t assigned homework yet. That definitely is NOT me.