topsy
pronunciation
How to pronounce topsy in British English:
UK 
How to pronounce topsy in American English:
US
Word Origin
- Topsy
- slave-girl character in "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (1852), immortal in cliche for her response to a question about her origin put to her by the pious Northern abolitionist Miss Ophelia: "Have you ever heard anything about God, Topsy?" The child looked bewildered, but grinned, as usual. "Do you know who made you?" "Nobody as I knows on," said the child, with a short laugh. The idea appeared to amuse her considerably; for her eyes twinkled, and she added-- "I spect I grow'd. Don't think nobody never made me." In addition to being often misquoted by the addition of a "just" (or "jes'"), the line is sometimes used inappropriately in 20c. writing to indicate something that got large without anyone intending it to.