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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
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lallaloosaAlso 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
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member
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member
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 140 |
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 
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773 |
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.
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Joined: Nov 2000
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old hand
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old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819 |
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?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Little Lulu, I think, Geoff, she said just realizing she has forever labeled herself.
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
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'Marge's Little Lulu' lasted well into the 50s; her foil was a lad named Tubby.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
It looks like our Lulu didn't cross the Atlantic. http://www.lulu.co.uk/
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819 |
'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! 
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
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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! 
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Joined: Jan 2001
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773 |
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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