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#18525 02/09/01 12:50 AM
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lallaloosa

Also from H.L. Mencken’s ‘The American Language’ (1921):

“The immigrants from the South of Ireland, during the period under review, exerted an influence upon the language that was vastly greater than that of the Germans, both directly and indirectly, but their contributions to the actual vocabulary were probably less. They gave American, indeed, relatively few new words; perhaps shillelah, colleen, spalpeen, smithereens and poteen exhaust the unmistakably Gaelic list. Lallapalooza is also probably an Irish loan-word, though it is not Gaelic. It apparently comes from allay-foozee, a Mayo provincialism, signifying a sturdy fellow. Allay-foozee, in its turn, comes from the French allez-fusil, meaning “Forward the muskets!”—a memory, according to P. W. Joyce, of the French landing at Killala in 1798.”

http://www.bartleby.com/185/16.html


#18526 02/09/01 07:43 AM
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Also from H.L. Mencken’s ‘The American Language’ (1921)

Thanks for that, mav. I had forgotten about the bartleby.com site and did not have it bookmarked. All is now well!

lusy

#18527 02/11/01 02:05 PM
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My dictionaries, etymological and otherwise, just say that "lulu" is a derivative of Louis/Louise/Louisa. Webster's Unabridged adds an interesting definition:

A tax-free allowance granted to some members of the legislative body in certain States, usually in recognition of a legislator's seniority, position as head of an important committee, etc, [or] such an allowance granted by a governor to a legislator in return for a political favor.

Webster's attributes this definition to a special use of the general slang term for a remarkable thing.

Webster's spells lalapalooza, "lolapalooza," and offers "[?]" for origin.


#18528 02/11/01 04:42 PM
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The term is now an acronym among land use planners for "Locally Undesirable Land Use."

OK, old-timers, help me here: Wasn't there a comic strip named LuLu ca. 1930s?


#18529 02/11/01 06:32 PM
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Little Lulu, I think, Geoff, she said just realizing she has forever labeled herself.


#18530 02/11/01 06:38 PM
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'Marge's Little Lulu' lasted well into the 50s; her foil was a lad named Tubby.


#18531 02/11/01 09:35 PM
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It looks like our Lulu didn't cross the Atlantic.

http://www.lulu.co.uk/


#18532 02/11/01 09:56 PM
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'Marge's Little Lulu' lasted well into the 50s; her foil was a lad named Tubby.

Oh, yes, thank you, TSWUM and Jackie! I vaguely remembered it from my very, very young childhood!


#18533 02/12/01 12:06 PM
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our Lulu didn't cross the Atlantic.

Thanks for the link, Jo - it was dead brill, seeing that mop of fur hur and cheeky face come swimming out at me from the screen.
It brings back a lorra memories!




#18534 04/30/01 01:07 PM
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Per Dictionary of Word Origins, Jordan Almond:

"Lallapaloosa" comes from a provincialism of County Mayo, Ireland -- allay-foozee, meaning a "sturdy fellow." The Irish adopted it from the French -- who, when they landed at Killala in 1798, repeatedly shouted, Allez-fusil! -- meaning, "Forward the muskets."

[got-a-new-etymology-book emoticon]




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