beezark (1919)--(corrected spelling)

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Thu, 30 Jun 2005 17:34:52 -0500, Mullins, Bill
<Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL> wrote:

>> Or "Bizerkley" as Snoop would have it.
>>
>> JL
>
>Was just thinking -- isn't "beezark" what a "dizzog" does?

I was reminded of the lyrics by Kanye West, recently analyzed by Mark
Liberman et al. on the Language Log...

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http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002269.html
I drink a boost for breakfast, an Ensure for dizzert
Somebody ordered pancakes I just sip the sizzurp
That right there could drive a sane man bizerk
Not to worry the Mr. H-to-the-Izzo's back wizzork
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Snoop, of course, prefers the "-izzle" substitution to the "-izz-" infix:
"for sure" -> "fo shizzle", "bitch" -> "bizzle", etc.

Interestingly, P.G. Wodehouse had a similar idea c. 1930.  Partridge's
Dictionary of Slang has:

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beazel. A girl since ca. 1930 (P.G. Wodehouse. An arbitrary formation -
prob. euph. for bitch)
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(This isn't in HDAS, though it does have "beazle" meaning "a worthless
fellow".)  As noted on an alt.usage.english, this sense of "beazel" also
appears in the Preston Sturges movie "Sullivan's Travels":

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http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.usage.english/msg/a9e01957bf2d88cd
Sullivan: Why don't you go back with the car? You look about as much like
a boy as Mae West.
The Girl: All right, they'll think I'm your frail.
Burrows: I believe it's called a "beazel," miss, if memory serves.
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--Ben Zimmer