On a previous episode, we discussed the origins of doozy, and boy did we get some responses! Many of you called and wrote to say that the Duesenberg luxury car is the source of the term. While the car’s reputation for automotive excellence may have reinforced the use of term, the problem is that the word doozy appears in print at least as early as 1903. The car, however, wasn’t widely available until about 1920. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “”Doozy” is Not from the Car”
Well, a couple of weeks ago on the show, we had a doozy of a call.
Oh, boy.
Grant, you know the call I’m talking about.
I do. Boy, howdy.
The origin of doozy.
And we said that it probably, that it’s not quite certain where it comes from, but that it probably came from the use of daisy being the finest of its sort.
We didn’t mention another aspect of this story, and boy howdy did we hear about that from listeners.
Our phones were ringing off the hook.
A lot of people know the story that it supposedly came from the name of the Duesenberg automobile, which had a reputation for quality and being a fine machine.
But there’s a math problem here.
Yes.
The first use that we know of in print for the word doozy, as in, boy, she’s a real doozy, look at her, is from 1903.
However, the Duesenberg automobiles didn’t begin being built until 1913 and weren’t widely available to consumers until 1920.
Yeah.
So it couldn’t have come from the automobile.
However, I wouldn’t be surprised, given how much esteem people have held those automobiles in, if the automobile’s quality didn’t reinvigorate Duesen and kind of give it a new life.
Yes.
And maybe we should have said that, that that idea was reinforced by the Duesenberg.
We heard from so many people who said, my dad told me about the Duesenberg.
And that’s why, I mean, that story is just floating around there.
Duesy didn’t come from the automobile, but perhaps influenced it later.
Yeah.
It’s tough.
You know, when you’re talking about etymology, how many stories do you leave out?
It’s really a matter of drilling down to the most legitimate ones.
That’s right.
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I think the word comes from the Polish word “duza” which means large. When I remember hearing the word in the 1970’s, it usually meant something especially large or difficult. The appearance of the word in English coincides with a time when many Polish and eastern European immigrants were coming to this country.