FW: palooka: M-W's Word of the Day

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Fri, 13 May 2005 15:05:24 -0500, Cohen, Gerald Leonard <gcohen at UMR.EDU>
wrote:

> As for the etymology of "palooka," I'd guess that the graceful boxing
>of the comic-strip character Joe Palooka was less important to some
>people than his profession of being in a ring and slugging it out with
>fellow boxers.

A 1933 Washington Post article about Ham Fisher, the creator of Joe
Palooka, says he got the idea for the strip after talking to "an
especially dumb but good-natured fighter." So I think the salient
characteristic of a palooka was lack of mental acuity, rather than
anything to do with physical grace. Of course, this was often seen
as an endearing trait (aw, you big palooka). Only later did "palooka"
connote clumsiness, I think.

>And as for the name Palooka, it looks Slavic. Any connection with
>Russian poljak "a Pole"?

The OED draft entry suggests the Polish surname "Paluka" (originally
with a barred l).


--Ben Zimmer