Decoration or ornamantal item .
Frequently a smallish
article whose ususal
name is
unknown or
forgotten, a
gadget. Synonym:
Whatchmacllit. Perhaps a derivative of
doohickey. Doodad +
hickey. Hickey in the sense of being a
device or
contrivance or a
gadget.
A little doo dad by Dorothy Parker...
The sun's gone dim, and
The moon's turned black;
For I loved him, and
He didn't love back.
from Two-Volume Novel
Dorothy published more than 50 poems in The New Yorker magazine, and many of them were efforts she described as "doo-dads": "I write doo-dads because this is a doo-dad kind of town." she said