| 释义 |
wowser
noun
a spoilsport of the worst kind; a moral crusader; a prude AUSTRALIA, 1900
Claimed by John Norton, editor of the Sydney Truth (1891–1916) as his own coinage and an acronym from the phrase “we only want social evils remedied”, a supposed catchcry of “the wowsers”. This story has sadly never been corroborated, and its derivation must be sought elsewhere. The Australian National Dictionary suggests British dialect wow (to howl or bark as a dog, to complain), which seems to fit well, but one correspondent to the Truth in 1910, after denying the word as Norton’s invention, goes on to say “a false sense of public decency forbids the publication of the derivation and true meaning”, which suggests some profane origin.- Ah, it’s not th’ min that’s afraid. It’s th’ dirty wowsers that never takes a drink that’s afraid. — Ernest O’Ferrall, Stories by “Kodak”, p. 33, 1933
- “What are wowsers?” “Blokes that don’ drink.” — Nino Culotta (John O’Grady), They’re A Weird Mob, p. 50, 1957
- He wasn’t ashamed of the money his family had made from their chain of hotels even if there were a lot of wowsers always howling about it being illegal to hold more than one licence. — Dymphna Cusack, Picnic Races, p. 31, 1962
- “Boxing. Yeah, I know a bit.” “You know there’s an inquiry going on at the moment?” “Fuckin’ wowsers and poofters!” — Peter Corris, Make Me Rich, p. 105, 1985
- This is an extension of that wonderful exhibition, Forbidden Love, Bold Passion, exploring 90 years of the lesbian underground, that has been touring Australia to accolades from us and puny attempts at censorship from the Wowser Brigade. — Lesbians on the Loose, p. 41, 1997
- This made Herodias as mad as a cut snake and she wanted John knocked off. But Herod was nervous because, although John was a wowser, he was a good bloke. — Kel Richards, The Aussie Bible, p. 39, 2003
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