palooka
Appearance
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Used in the US since the 1920s, originally primarily of boxers. Popularized by Jack Conway of Variety,[1][2] who also popularized baloney and bimbo. Further popularized by Ham Fisher in his comic strip Joe Palooka about a boxer (published in newspapers since 1930, particularly popular in 1940s).[3]
Pronunciation
[edit]- IPA(key): /pəˈluːkə/
Audio (General Australian): (file)
Noun
[edit]palooka (plural palookas)
- (US slang) A stupid, oafish or clumsy person.
- (US, boxing, bridge, etc) Someone incompetent or untalented.
- 1923 March, Lincoln Star, Nebraska:
- But [Jack] Dempsey against some palooka who had been press agented into greatness and into the form of a Dempsey menace — that would pack any outdoor arena.
- 1994, Quentin Tarantino, Roger Avary, Pulp Fiction:
- Butch: Lookin' at somethin', friend?
Vincent: I ain't your friend, palooka.
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]See also
[edit]- (boxing): tomato can
References
[edit]- ^ Esquire, September 1936
- ^ H. L. Mencken, 1945 supplement to The American Language, reviewed in Books: Alphabet Soup, TIME, Monday, Aug. 27, 1945
- ^ Cassell’s Dictionary Of Slang. Jonathon Green. Cassel & Co., 1998. →ISBN
Further reading
[edit]- “palooka n.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present
Categories:
- English terms with unknown etymologies
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- American English
- English slang
- en:Boxing
- en:Bridge
- English terms with quotations
- en:People
- en:Athletes
- en:Sports
- en:Card games