Tizz/tizzy

As in ‘to get in a tizz or tizzy’ or to be in ‘all of a tizz or tizzy’ is originally an American colloquialism meaning to be in a dither or a state of agitation and dates from the 1930s. The OED states the origin is unknown or at best uncertain, but some sources maintain the origin is echoic of someone being in a dither, while Michael Quinion suggests that it derives from an American radio programme called Al Pearce and His Gang that aired from 1929 to 1947 featuring a female character ‘Tizzie Lish’ who was always distracted or in a dither. Tizzy also happens to be an obsolete British colloquialism for a sixpence coin that dates from the late 18th/early 19th century.