mosey

See also: Mosey

English

WOTD – 5 March 2009

Alternative forms

• mosy, mozey, mozy

Etymology

Unknown. Originally attested in Southern US dialects. Suggested origins include:

• Spanish vamos (compare vamoose)
• British dialectal mose about (“walk around stupidly”)
• an Algonquian term for "walk" (compare Ojibwe bimose (“she or he walks along”))

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈmoʊ.zi/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Verb

mosey (third-person singular simple present moseys, present participle moseying, simple past and past participle moseyed)

1. (chiefly US, dialectal, intransitive) To set off, get going; to start a journey.
   • 1910, Lucy Maud Montgomery, “chapter 1”, in Kilmeny of the Orchard:

     Haven't got time. I must mosey up to the North End to see a man who has got a lovely throat. Nobody can find out what is the matter. He has puzzled all the doctors.

2. (chiefly US, dialectal, intransitive) To go off quickly: to hurry up.
3. (chiefly US, dialectal, intransitive) To amble; to walk or proceed in a leisurely manner.
   • 1919, William MacLeod Raine, “chapter 6”, in A Man Four-Square:

     We'll mosey along toward the river. Kinder take it easy an' drift the herd down slow so as to let the cattle put on flesh.

Usage notes

• Associated especially with the dialect of the Old West.

Translations

to set off

• German: starten (de), beginnen (de)

to go off quickly

• German: losrennen

to amble

• German: schlendern (de)
• Swedish: släntra (sv)

Anagrams

• Moyes, Moyse