»shoddy

Shoddy entered our language as a noun, mid-nineteenth century; it denoted a garment made from recycled or already-used wool, and shortly afterwards became an adjective describing anything shabby or inferior (it has an interesting secondary meaning, "pretentious vulgarity": showy).

Where it came from, I know not; nor does Etymology Online.

salim filed this under lingo at 15h07 Friday, 09 May 2008 (link) (Yr two bits?)