[Ads-l] Bizarro, Bizarro World

[Mark Peters]

Thanks so much!

Also, I just noticed that *bizarro *is in Green's Dictionary of Slang.
Jonathon Green for the win!

On Tue, Jun 16, 2015 at 12:18 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole <
adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Bizarro, Bizarro World
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Below is a generalized use of "bizarro world" in 1973, i.e. this use
> was not directly connected to Superman.
>
> Date: March 14, 1973
> Newspaper: The Evening Times (Trenton Evening Times)
> Newspaper Location: Trenton, New Jersey.
> Article: Would you buy a used record from this man?
> Quote Page 32, Column 1
> Database: GenealogyBank
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> Perhaps not, but Alan Edwards, rock columnist for This Week Magazine,
> is doing his best to make sure readers know what new records to buy,
> which discs to avoid, and What Is Going On in the bizarro world of
> rock and roll. His style is contemporary, wild and entertaining, his
> perspective covers the last decade of musical madness, and he
> thoroughly enjoys writing about music.
> [End excerpt]
>
> My previous post contained an error. My word processor silently
> changed an instance of "bizzaro" to "bizarre" in the phrase "The
> bizarro lushed-up Irish scrubwoman "
>
> There is a Science Fiction Fanzine archive that might contain relevant
> material. You can use a search string such as "bizarro
> site:efanzines.com". Unfortunately, it seems difficult to determine
> the dates of the fanzines. I do not know if there are accessible
> digital archives from comics fandom.
>
> http://www.efanzines.com/
>
> The Oxford English Dictionary has an entry for "mondo bizarre" which
> is traced to the title of a 1966 film.
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> mondo bizarro, n. and adj.
> A. n.
>   The world of the bizarre or surreal.
> 1966   (title of film)    Mondo bizarro.
> 1973   Texas Monthly Dec. 67/1   Senor Castillo recommends for
> December, 'Pepe and his College Girls', direct from Mexico City. Mondo
> bizarro.
> . . .
> B. adj.
>   Very bizarre; tastelessly bizarre.
> 1976   Texas Monthly Nov. 104/1   The paper excels in its handling of
> Mondo Bizarro material: the man killed by a bullet up his nostril,
> [etc.].
> [End excerpt]
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> Etymology:  < mondo n.3 + Italian bizzarro eccentric, weird (see
> bizarre adj. and n.), with spelling altered after bizarre adj. and n.
> or Spanish bizarro.
>
> In early use after the title of the 1966 U.S. film Mondo Bizarro (see
> quot. 1966 at sense A.).
>
> Some of the adjectival uses below may perhaps arise from
> interpretation of mondo as an intensifying adverb qualifying an
> adjective, but they may also be influenced by Spanish mondo pure,
> unadulterated: see mondo adv. and adj.2
> [End excerpt]
>
> On Tue, Jun 16, 2015 at 12:13 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole
> <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: Bizarro, Bizarro World
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Here are two pertinent entries constructed by the world's top expert
> > on American slang.
> >
> > Title: Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang,
> > Author: Jonathan E. Lighter
> > Volume 1: A-G
> > Quote Page 174
> > (Check for typos)
> >
> > [Begin excerpt]
> > bizarro n. [partially sugg. by the character Bizzaro, introduced in
> > Superman comics in 1957-58] a bizarre person.
> >
> > 1980 W. Sherman Times Sq. 13: Joe thought about arresting the bizarro.
> >
> > 1985 Univ. Tenn. prof., age ca32: These people are real bizarros.
> > [End excerpt]
> >
> > [Begin excerpt]
> > bizarro adj. bizarre; (also) crazy.
> >
> > 1971 Current Slang 5: Go bizarro...To lose one's composure; to be driven
> insane.
> >
> > 1973 in L. Bangs Psychotic Reactions 122: The bizarre lushed-up Irish
> > scrubwoman Kitty McShane.
> >
> > 1979 New West (Sept. 24) 88: His more recent drug-laden, bizarro
> epistolaries.
> >
> > 1982 Sculatti Catalog of Cool 49: Bizarro TV yarn starts with acid
> flashback.
> >
> > 1986 E. Weiner Howard the Duck 47: Whatever bizarro drug someone had
> > slipped her.
> > [End excerpt]
> >
> > Garson
> >
> >
> > On Tue, Jun 16, 2015 at 11:55 AM, Mark Peters
> > <markpeterswriter at gmail.com> wrote:
> >> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> >> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >> Poster:       Mark Peters <markpeterswriter at GMAIL.COM>
> >> Subject:      Bizarro, Bizarro World
> >>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>
> >> Is anyone aware of *bizarro *(as in the supervillain and the Bizarro
> Jerry
> >> from *Seinfeld*) being listed in any dictionaries? I'm working on an
> >> article on this fun word.
> >>
> >> Appreciate any suggestions!
> >>
> >> Mark
> >>
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