Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. usu. of a plan or scheme, dubious, indifferent.

1860		Hotten Dict. of Modern Sl. etc. (2nd edn) 193: Potty indifferent, bad looking.
1864, 1867, 1870		Hotten Sl. Dict.

2. insignificant, feeble.

1916		Birmingham Gaz. 21 Apr. 4/5: I say, portah! [...] this is a bit thick, you know, what! I suppose this potty little train of yours has started, eh?
1984		Partridge DSUE (8th edn) 916/2: from 1870.

3. easy to manage, simple.

1934

Wodehouse Right Ho, Jeeves 165: I can’t imagine why I made all that fuss about a potty job like distributing prizes at a rotten little country grammar school.

4. crazy, eccentric; thus potty about, madly in love with, obsessed by.

1905		A. Binstead Mop Fair 50: A well-known ’Arley Street medical man [...] who is at present immured in a private ’ome for the potty.
1915		Magnet Library 25 Sept. 2: ‘Potty!’ murmured Nugent. ‘Mad as an esteemed hatter!’ said Hurree Singh.
1922		Gippsland Times (Vic.) 2 Nov. 5/2: A tabbie wot wud pull yew on / Wud wanter be well potty, / Or else she’d be wot they call gone, / A shingle short, or dotty.
1926		‘Sapper’ Final Count 859: Fair potty about me was Aunt Amelia.
1934		Wodehouse Right Ho, Jeeves 85: Girls go potty over a public man.
1937		A. Christie Murder in the Mews (1954) 25: Potty [...] Absolutely potty.
1943		in T. Harrisson Mass-Observation War Factory: Report 11: [He] just sits and watches me while I eat my dinner and then watches what I do next, if I’m knitting or sewing or what it is. It’s enough to drive you potty.
1951		Cusack & James Come in Spinner (1960) 59: If you play your cards properly you might even be able to land old McFarland . . . It’s obvious he’s potty about you.
1966		T. Keyes All Night Stand 198: But Iceland, I thought, that’s potty.
1972		J. Speight ‘If We Want a Proper Democracy’ Till Death Us Do Part [TV script] Yes – you’re mad – you’re bloody potty!
1989		Beano Comic Library No. 176 25: Our robot’s going all potty.
1991		J. Osborne Déjàvu Act I: J.P.’s fairly potty at present.
2000		Observer Mag. 9 Apr. 23: I’m potty about gardening.

5. (Aus.) drunk.

1908		Bulletin (Sydney) 19 Nov. 11/1: Haven’t you in your time / Seen some wild soul advance, / Noisy, hilarious, / Palpably ‘in a trance’ / And likewise ‘paralyt- / Ic,’ ‘potty,’ ‘on his ear,’ / ‘Full,’ ‘sozzled,’ ‘bosky,’ ‘tanked,’ / ‘Boozed,’ ‘hitting up a tear’?
1915		S. Ford Shorty McCabe on the Job 117: A potty conductor asked me for a clear track to Omaha.