Up the gazoo

Posted by Smokey Stover on October 08, 2009 at 14:23

In Reply to: Up the gazoo posted by Kat on October 07, 2009 at 20:08:

: What is the origin of "up the gazoo" ?

In the U.S>, the usual expression is "up the wazoo." It belongs to a class of expressions of which the meaning is inferred from the context. It is a euphemism for "up the ass," or "up the rectum." The OED defines "wazoo" as "buttocks or anus." (I would say, anus or rectum; not really the buttocks.) The expression is deprecatory, but there is a bit of room for variation in meaning. "Up the wazoo" can also mean, as per the OED: "in great quantities, in abundance, to excess." Here, too, it's a synonym for ass. You can say, for instance, that author has book awards up the wazoo. Or you can say, he has awards up his ass. Or you can say "out the wazoo" or "out the ass," with the same meaning.

Usually the expression doesn't involve anything actually going into a person's rectum, but it can. If a man gets an exam for prostate enlargement, he'll probably get a finger "up the wazoo." Some smugglers hide their contraband "up the wazoo."

The meaning differs if you say, for instance, "up your ass!" as a free-standing interjection. It implies scorn or disbelief or denial.
SS

The OED regards "gazoo" as a synonym for kazoo, a device occasionally regarded as a musical insturment. (You hum into it and get a sound that's only slighty worse than your humming.)

Why "wazoo," or "gazoo," if Kat has heard right? I don't know. Why are breasts sometimes called "gazongas" (or something similarly meaningless)? I think it's probably important to use a word that has no other meaning.

I'm reminded of an episode of the Benny Hill Show, in which Benny is visiting an African tribe. The chief is haranguing his tribal warriors, and his oration is punctuated by cries of "Huzzanga!" Benny remarks, "This chief sure seems popular with his people." Then Benny is taken on a tour of the grounds, and his guide says, "Mind where you step; watch out for the huzzanga."