Off the ol' hookeroo

[Laurence Horn]

At 10:23 AM -0700 4/28/10, Lisa Galvin wrote:
>
>Yes, I understand the overall meaning of the specific example I
>gave;  what I was trying to figure out was the whole "ol' --eroo"
>thing, like where that came from, or if anyone knows when/how it
>started.
>
>
>
>If someone asks you what is the difference between "off the hook"
>and "off the ol' hookeroo", what would you say?
>

Well, a phone can be (or can be ringing) off the hook, but not off
the ol' hookeroo.  ;-)

Seriously, or more seriously, it's interesting that none of the OED's
examples of the "factitious slang suffix", _boozeroo_, _brusheroo_ [=
brush off], or _flopperoo_, are still extant in the US (as far as I
know, nor is _jerkeroo_ (the one cite at the entry, from a Guardian
piece in 1964), while "(the ol') switcheroo", as mentioned in Lisa
Galvin's original query, is.  Presumably the productivity of -eroo
has essentially waned and thus the attested forms seem like dated
(1940's) slang, or at least so the links from the OED -eroo entry
would suggest.

L


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>>  Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2010 13:09:17 -0400
>>  From: Berson at ATT.NET
>>  Subject: Re: Off the ol' hookeroo
>>  To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>>
>>  ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>-----------------------
>>  Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  Poster: "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
>>  Subject: Re: Off the ol' hookeroo
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>  I suppose the meaning is clear: Out of a difficult situation; off the spot.
>>
>>  Presumably from "off the hook" -- OED hook n., sense 15.f. "off the
>>  hook: out of a difficult situation." The opposite of "on the hook"
>>  -- sense 2.b. "on the hook: in various fig. uses, e.g. ensnared, in
>>  the power (of someone); in one's grasp."
>>
>>  If the question is "where does *hookeroo* come from?", perhaps "hook"
>>  plus the "factitious slang suffix" (OED) -eroo.
>>
>>  Joel
>>
>>  At 4/28/2010 12:29 PM, Lisa Galvin wrote:
>>  >A friend of mine is a translator, and now and then she asks me
>>  >questions about particularly troublesome (meaning difficult to look
>>  >up, find online, etc.) English expressions she is faced with
>>  >translating into Japanese. Usually I can come up with answers for
>>  >her, along with some history and other examples, using my own
>>  >knowledge and a little research, but trying to nail this one down
>>  >got me stuck.
>>  >
>>  >This is a Peanuts comic where Lucy and Linus are having the
>>  >following exchange:
>>  >
>>  >==================================================
>>  >
>>  >LUCY: How sould you like to see a list of things I want for Christmas?
>>  >
>>  >LINUS: Absolutely not!! I want my gift to you this year to be a
>>complete and
>>  >delightful surprise.
>>  >
>>  >LUCY: What a lovely generous thought...
>>  >
>>  >(and off she goes...)
>>  >
>>  >LINUS: Off the Ol' Hookeroo!!
>>  >
>>  >===================================================
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >Of course the <ol'> + <*eroo> construction is a way of
>>  >colloqializing the expression "off the hook", but does anyone know
>>  >when that started or how to better define the construction and its
>>  >nuance of meaning?
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >It's a tough one to Google (this one kept getting me "did you mean,
>>  >'old hooker'?" Uh, no, no I did not).
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >I know we have "The ol' switcheroo", any other examples you can think of?
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >Oh, and just for the record, she ended up translating this line as
>>  >something like "Good, I'm safe for now".
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >Lisa Galvin
>>  >
>>  >Seattle WA
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >
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>
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