English

Verb

tickle someone's fancy

1. (idiomatic) To amuse, entertain, or appeal to someone; to stimulate someone's imagination in a favorable manner.
   • 1839, Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby, ch. 11:

     But the notion of Ralph Nickleby having directed it to be done, tickled his fancy so much, that he could not refrain from cracking all his ten fingers in succession.

   • 1895 October 1, "‘The People’ Name Judge Gaynor," New York Times, p. 2 (retrieved 29 July 2009):

     Mr. Adams, who loves a joke, and is not a lunatic, notwithstanding his opening words, tickled their fancy for an hour with quotations from Shakespeare and the editorial columns of The Brooklyn Eagle.

   • 1969, Dylan Thomas, Adventures in the Skin Trade, ISBN 9780811202022, p. 16:

     There will not be any Nancy to tickle my fancy in a kitchen full of handerkerchiefs and beckoning, unmade beds.

   • 2005 April 9, Sam Marlowe, "**** Monologues" (theatre review), Times Online (UK) (retrieved 29 July 2009):

     If you’re looking for something that tickles your fancy, and now and then even stirs your soul, this just might hit the G-spot.