[Ads-l] Antedating of "zowie"

[Margaret Winters]

I've certainly heard 'wowie zowie' used sarcastically ('big deal!!!).  Why that initial consonant for the rhyme, though, I cannot say.  For what it is worth, Hebrew has 'yofi tofi' used equally sarcastically.


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MARGARET E WINTERS
On Leave
Office of the Provost
Wayne State University
Detroit, MI  48202

mewinters at wayne.edu

________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Cohen, Gerald Leonard <gcohen at MST.EDU>
Sent: Monday, November 7, 2016 9:49:02 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Antedating of "zowie"

"Zowie"! -- could it be a blend ("Wowie!" + "Zounds!")?

Gerald Cohen
________________________________________
From:  Robin Hamilton [robin.hamilton3 at VIRGINMEDIA.COM]
Sent: Monday, November 07, 2016 3:47 AM

Antedated to 1902 in GDoS:

(orig. US) an excl. used to describe a sudden impact, or fig. amazement.

1902 [US] T.A. Dorgan in Zwilling TAD Lex. (1993) 90: Zowie!!
1909 [US] Pacific Commercial Advertisier (Honolulu, HI) 25 Dec. 3/5: This
[baseball] game will not take place if it rains. If the weather is fine, all
right; if not, then zooey for the fans.

Hugo's cite provides a nice interdating/confirmation of early use.

Robin

On 07 November 2016 at 07:17 Hugo <hugovk at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
OED: c1913
     1908 July 17, Rice, Thomas S., Nationals Swat at Lively Clip Until
New Orleans Steps Into Breach.=E2=80=9D, in The Washington Times[1],
     Washington D.C., page 10:

>     ---
>     Zowie, what a walloping those Browns got in New York yesterday! A few
>     more like that and the blow-up in Washington, then watch the anvil
>     chorus in St. Louis.
>     ---

>     [1]
> http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026749/1908-07-17/ed-1/seq-10/=
#words=3DZowie
>     Hugo
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