lookit
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Nonstandard reanalysis of look at (that).
Pronunciation
[edit]Interjection
[edit]lookit
- (colloquial, informal, Canada, US, Ireland) look, listen; see here, pay attention; the thing is, to be honest
- 2010 May 20, Miriam Lord, quoting Dick Roche, “As asses roar it's business as usual in the chamber”, in The Irish Times[2]:
- Ah lookit deputy, with all due respect to you, if you come in here and act like an ass that's exactly the label that you'll gain
- 2010 September 14, Rosemary MacCabe, “MTV VMAs mark two: the young guns”, in The Irish Times[3], archived from the original on 13 June 2015:
- Lookit! I'm old enough now, I'll wear what I want!
- 2014 March 24, Paul Williams, Fionnan Sheahan, Sam Griffin, “Mum tells gardai how drunk TD sent lewd message to schoolgirl”, in Irish Independent[4]:
- Paddy said yesterday morning: "Lookit he didn't murder anybody. He is not a bad lad."
- (colloquial, informal, Canada, US) behold!; look at that; look here or there; look!
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:lo
- 2010, Anel Viz, Fairies in the Bottom of the Garden, page 18:
- He went right on cackling, "Lookit lookit lookit. Oh Jesus, lookit. Lookit lookit." The blast had shattered all the windows, and flames were shooting out of all of them.
Verb
[edit]lookit
- Pronunciation spelling of look at.
- 1990 April 19, Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes:
- Hey, lookit the sissy who didn't sign up for recess baseball!
Usage notes
[edit]In 1999, William Safire called lookit “a widely used, if somewhat outdated, urban Americanism”.[1]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ William Safire (1999 June 13) “On Language”, in New York Times Magazine[1]