where did the term goody two shoes come from?

Question

what do people mean when they say "goody two shoes"?

Answer 1

It comes from the title of a rather twee and moralistic nursery tale called The History of Goody Two-Shoes, which is thought to have been written by Oliver Goldsmith, and which was published in 1765 by John Newbery, one of the earliest London publishers of children’s stories. Goody owned only one shoe. When she was given a pair of them, she was so pleased that she showed them to everybody, saying “Two shoes”. The phrase now refers to a self-righteous, smugly virtuous person.

Answer 2

No answer here, but an amusing crackpot theory:

In colonial times, it was common for peoples' shoes to not be a right shoe and a left shoe, but rather for them both to be identical. Also in colonial times, "Goody" was short for "Goodwife", and was used how we tend to use "Mrs." today. (Read a copy of "Young Goodman Brown" and you'll see this in action.)

So my guess is that "Goody Two-Shoes" was originally a well-off lady, wealthy enough that she could afford to have different shoes made for her right food and her left foot (which, as we are well aware in modern days, is much more comfortable).

Answer 3

I dont know.....I was wondering the same thing!!!