A “goody two-shoes” is an unbearably self-centered little girl and comes from a nursery rhyme, “The History of Little Goody Two-shoes.”
“Goody” was a common nickname for married women and came from the word goodwife.
In the nursery rhyme, Goody owned only one shoe.
When given a pair, she ran around showing them to everyone, even those less fortunate than she, smugly announcing, “Look! Two shoes.”
The phrase came to mean a self-centered brat.
“The History of Little Goody Two-shoes,” inspired by an actual person, was written by Oliver Goldsmith and published in 1765 by John Newberry.
The real Goody’s full name was Margery Meanwell, and she lived in Mouldwell.
