This week’s theme
Americanisms

This week’s words
humdinger
ripsnorter
ballyhoo
foofaraw
lollapalooza

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(lol-uh-puh-LOO-zuh)

MEANING:

noun: An exceptional person, thing, or event.

ETYMOLOGY:

Of uncertain origin. Earliest documented use: 1904.

NOTES:

The word has a number of variants: lollapaloosa, lalapalooza, lallapalooza, but they all mean the same thing: something or someone truly remarkable. It’s also the name of a popular music festival.

USAGE:

“Young Man Winter did a massive marshmallow job on the region a week ago. It was a snowstorm of Brobdingnagian dimensions. ... It was a lulu wrapped in a lollapalooza inside a humdinger.”
Robertson Cochrane; One Humdinger of a Snow Job; The Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada); Dec 19, 1992.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: