Etymology of "wacko"

[Wilson Gray]

And there are the two famous elephants, one real and one imagined:
Jumbo and Dumbo.

-Wilson


On 1/30/06, Baker, John <JMB at stradley.com> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Baker, John" <JMB at STRADLEY.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Etymology of "wacko"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>         The Marx Brothers names, in turn were influenced by Gus Mager's
> comic strips.  According to Toonopedia, "Starting in 1904, with Knocko
> the Monk, he [sc. Gus Mager] did regular features for Hearst about
> people caricatured as monkeys, usually named after a dominant trait.
> Braggo the Monk, Rhymo the Monk, Colfeeto the Monk, Tightwaddo the Monk
> and many more followed. The monks became quite popular, even sparking a
> minor national fad of using monk-like names to nickname real people. In
> fact, the Marx Brothers, Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Zeppo and Gummo, got
> their stage names from that source - Mager even had a Groucho the Monk."
> IIRC, Harpo Speaks is explicit about the derivation from Knocko the
> Monk.
>
>         I think this tells us, at a minimum, that as early as 1904
> people were deriving "-o" names.  It's hard to tell at this remove to
> what extent Gus Mager was a source for this, other than the explicit
> crediting for the Marx Brothers.
>
>
> John Baker
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
> Of Benjamin Zimmer
> Sent: Monday, January 30, 2006 4:49 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: Etymology of "wacko"
>
> On 1/30/06, Baker, John <JMB at stradley.com> wrote:
> >
> >         Should the -o ending be considered so limited?  Think of the
> > Marx Brothers, with Harpo so-called because he played a harp, Chico
> > liked the chicks (it was originally Chicko, but the k was quickly
> > dropped), and so forth.  There's an account of their naming in Harpo's
>
> > autobiography, Harpo Speaks; I don't have it available, but they
> > certainly took on these names well before 1935.
>
> It's said that they got get their nicknames from comic Art Fisher during
> a backstage poker game in Galesburg, Illinois on May 15, 1914.
>
> http://www.whyaduck.com/info/grouchochron.htm
> http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/destinations/midwest/chi-0511200197
> nov20,1,3054951.story
>
>
> --Ben Zimmer
>
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