Gonzo

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Dr. Goodword
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Gonzo

Postby Dr. Goodword » Sat Oct 25, 2014 7:57 pm

• gonzo •

Pronunciation: gahn-zo • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Adjective

Meaning: Bizarre, outrageously unusual, very 'far out', out-of-sight, off the deep end.

Notes: This odd term first appeared in a 1971 article by William Cardoza of the Boston Globe in reference to journalist-novelist Hunter Thompson, author of the novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Thompson was a journalist who seemed out of control. His bizarre off-center reportage of the Kentucky Derby focused on the drugs, sex, and vulgar behavior of the attendees rather than the race at the center of other reporters' attention.

In Play: Gonzo is still an adjective skulking in the shadows of English, not yet fully outted except as the name of the purple Muppet on the children's TV show Sesame Street (Gonzo the Great). In colloquial US English, however, you hear it occasionally in phrases like this: "Sally Forth showed up at the party in a gonzo outfit that looked like something she picked up at a second-hand clothing store in the sixties."

Word History: Cardoza claimed that gonzo came from Boston slang, which means it probably originated from Italian gonzo "idiot, fool". This word goes back to the Proto-Indo-European root ghans- "goose", which became German Gans "goose", Spanish and Portuguese ganso "goose", and English gander, extended by the ever-popular -er suffix. The association of geese with dimwits is common in Indo-European languages, as we see in the English expression, "you silly goose". This sense became the dominant one in Italian and today it is the only meaning of gonzo. (The word for "goose" in Italian is currently oca). The sense of "outlandish" in Boston slang could have resulted from the misprision of the Italian word by the Irish-Catholics of Boston.
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LukeJavan8
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Re: Gonzo

Postby LukeJavan8 » Sun Oct 26, 2014 5:56 pm

...why does this word remind me of Ronald Reagan and a
monkey?
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Perry Lassiter
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Re: Gonzo

Postby Perry Lassiter » Mon Oct 27, 2014 9:13 pm

Dunno. I always think of MASH and gonzo journalists. Connotation is good guys who don't color within the lines.
pl

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Slava
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Re: Gonzo

Postby Slava » Mon Oct 27, 2014 9:24 pm

...why does this word remind me of Ronald Reagan and a monkey?
Perhaps it's because of Bedtime for Bonzo?
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LukeJavan8
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Re: Gonzo

Postby LukeJavan8 » Tue Oct 28, 2014 12:31 pm

Never saw the movie, I dislike monkeys and all their
associated relatives. But I knew there had to be a
connection. Thanks muchly.
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Re: Gonzo

Postby misterdoe » Fri Aug 19, 2016 4:34 pm

Monkeys in movies (when they're not the star, that is) are always unnecessary. It's not a coincidence that a certain period of Clint Eastwood's career is dismissed as "monkey movies."

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Re: Gonzo

Postby misterdoe » Fri Aug 19, 2016 4:40 pm

This word also reminds me of an old favorite show, Trapper John MD, which coincidentally starred a MASH alumnus, Pernell Roberts. The "gonzo" connection is the character Dr. George Alonzo Gates, nicknamed Gonzo.

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Re: Gonzo

Postby LukeJavan8 » Mon Aug 22, 2016 1:09 pm

This word also reminds me of an old favorite show, Trapper John MD, which coincidentally starred a MASH alumnus, Pernell Roberts. The "gonzo" connection is the character Dr. George Alonzo Gates, nicknamed Gonzo.

How well I remember
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