[Ads-l] Fugazi

[Ben Zimmer]

On Wed, Apr 15, 2015 at 9:02 AM, Ben Zimmer wrote:
> On Wed, Apr 15, 2015 at 6:41 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>>
>> CNN, moments ago:
>>
>> Chris Cuomo: "There's what I call the 'fugazi factor' [in Clinton's
>> campaign]. The van, [etc.]"
>>
>> Michaela Periera: "What's 'fugazi'?"
>>
>> Chris Cuomo: "It means fake. You can look it up."
>>
>> But don't bother looking in the OED. And not even in HDAS, where the only
>> sense (starting 1980) is - in the words of one of the citations - "fucked
>> up in the head."  By 2005, the word was not uncommon.
>>
>> Rhymes with "crazy."  And 'fake' in the sense of 'theatrical.'
>
> I believe the 1997 movie "Donnie Brasco" was the main popularizer of
> the "fake" meaning of "fuga(y)zi".

Green's Dictionary of Slang notes that it appears in the relevant
sense (as "fugazy") in Joseph D. Pistone's 1987 book _ Donnie Brasco:
My Undercover Life in the Mafia_, recounting events of the 1970s.

--bgz

-- 
Ben Zimmer
http://benzimmer.com/

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