Word Of The Day (for
lapsedagnostic)
Oct. 16th, 2003 02:40 amwowser (WOU-zuhr) noun
A person regarded as excessively puritanical; a killjoy.
adjective
Being or relating to a wowser.
[Of obscure origin. One theory attributes the term to dialectal wow (to howl). Also, according to a popular unsubstantiated story, the term is an acronym of We Only Want Social Evils Remedied, a slogan invented by John Norton, eccentric owner of Truth newspaper.]
A person regarded as excessively puritanical; a killjoy.
adjective
Being or relating to a wowser.
[Of obscure origin. One theory attributes the term to dialectal wow (to howl). Also, according to a popular unsubstantiated story, the term is an acronym of We Only Want Social Evils Remedied, a slogan invented by John Norton, eccentric owner of Truth newspaper.]
no subject
Date: 2003-10-16 02:49 am (UTC)It's also come up in midwestern slang (I don't think I've heard it since I moved to the east coast) for "something that makes you go 'Wow!'" IE: That's a wowser.
no subject
Date: 2003-10-16 10:44 am (UTC)And, of course, rarely as an adjactive for someone or something that makes me exclaim said exclamation.
hmm.