Hoser (1981)

[sagehen]

Doug Wilson writes:
>>I remember when the MacKenzie brothers came out with their 'song' and was
>>VERY surprised that it could be played on regular ol' radio
>>stations.  When I was in HS and college a 'hose' was a  'penis' and a
>>'hoser' was a guy who used his 'hose' as often as he could with the gals.

>How could it be otherwise? "Hose" for "penis" is an obvious metaphor and I
>heard it repeatedly in the 1960's ... although it was not one of the more
>frequent terms in this application. "Hose" as a verb equivalent to the
>F-word or "lay pipe" was more frequent. "I've been hosed" and "You [stupid]
>hoser" are very transparent euphemisms, I believe.

>Perhaps the Toronto newspaper just published the half-dozen non-obscene
>etymological suggestions which arrived, and discarded the hundreds of
>letters which expressed the majority [and correct] interpretation?

~~~~~~

 I remember hearing "hoser" frequently on CBC radio in the late 70s & early
80s and being puzzled by it, but its contexts suggested only slight
rudeness, not indecency or obscenity.  I wasn't aware of the US usage, so
had no association with it, but it was used so freely in Canadian talk,
that I think their gloss *was* different. While Canadian airwaves are not
Bowdlerized to the extent ours are -- "fuck" & "shit," &c., are not bleeped
-- still, context marked this as a milder expression.
A. Murie

A&M Murie
N. Bangor NY
sagehen at westelcom.com