Origin of the word "Gizmo" (was Origin of the word "Tantrum")
Jonathan Lighter
wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM
Tue Nov 28 18:36:57 UTC 2006
Any new suggested etymologies for "gizmo/ gismo" ? OED and HDAS are both at a loss.
The OED entry (unlike another I might name) obscures the fact that the word first came to prominence in the U.S. naval services (perhaps especially in the Pacific) during WWII. It doesn't seem to appear in any pre-war glossaries of Annapolis slang, for example.
I'd suggest looking at Chinese, Tagalog, or another Pacific Rim language.
JL
"Douglas G. Wilson" <douglas at NB.NET> wrote:
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Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: "Douglas G. Wilson"
Subject: Re: Origin of the word "Tantrum"
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>Unknown?
Unknown to me anyway, and apparently to the modern dictionaries.
-- Doug Wilson
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