Jonathan from Bozeman, Montana, asks about doozy (or doozie), a word his mother used for something notably good or bad. The slang term may derive from daisy, a word used since the 1700s for something excellent, or it may have been influenced by the celebrated Italian actress Eleonora Duse, who toured the United States in the 1890s. It does not come from the Duesenberg automobile: doozy appears by 1903, before those cars were made or widely sold, though the cars may have helped revive the older slang. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Doozy’s Origin: Daisy Slang, Eleonora Duse, but Not Duesenberg”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hi, this is Jonathan from Bozeman, Montana.
Hi, Jonathan. Welcome to the show.
Hi, Jonathan.
What’s on your mind?
My mother, 97 years old, she used to use the word doozy. And I was wondering as to the origin of the word and exactly its meaning. She would say, depending upon her tone, doozy was either good or bad.
So, for example…
You’d have a doozy of a problem or a doozy of a black eye?
Yeah, right. Or something in a positive sense was doozy.
Oh, that’s a doozy.
Oh, I see. So you went, let’s say, looking for the best Halloween pumpkin, and there was a great one, and it was a doozy.
That’s right.
That’s right.
Yeah, well, Jonathan, the best guess we have is that it probably comes from the word daisy. Actually, as far back as the 1700s, the word daisy could apply to something that was really good, first rate. It wouldn’t have to be a flower.
No, no, it wouldn’t have to be a flower. You know, it could be a pretty girl.
Ooh, that’s a daisy. Or a fine horse.
Yeah, a fine horse, a great dog. That’s the daisiest horse I’ve ever seen, that kind of thing.
Interesting. And over time, it may have morphed into doozy. There’s one other theory about this, which has to do with a great Italian actress named Eleonora Dooze, who was very popular in the 1890s, and she made a tour of the U.S. And people just refer to her as doozy.
Most likely it comes from doozy. So there’s some cross-pollination there in the two terms, right?
Very good. Cross-pollination of daisy. Very good.
Yeah. My mother’s about that old, so it would probably still be around when she was young.
All right. Thanks for your call, Jonathan.
All right. Thanks a lot.
Take care now.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Bye.
Bye.
