gonzo

English

Etymology

Coined in 1971 by Boston Globe editor Bill Cardoso. Of uncertain origin; OED proposes Italian gonzo (“dolt”) and/or Spanish ganso (“dolt, goose”). The etymology supplied by Cardoso himself (French gonzeaux) is spurious.

Pronunciation

• enPR: gŏnʹzō
• IPA^(key): /ˈɡɑnzoʊ/
• IPA^(key): /ˈɡɒnzəʊ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒnzəʊ

Adjective

gonzo (comparative more gonzo, superlative most gonzo)

1. (journalism) Using an unconventional, exaggerated and highly subjective style, often when the reporter takes part in the events of the story.
   • 1972, Richard Pollack, chapter VI, in Stop the Presses, I Want to Get Off!:

     I ask Hunter to explain... Just what is Gonzo Journalism?.. “Gonzo all started with Bill Cardosa [sic],..after I wrote the Kentucky Derby piece for Scanlan's..the first time I realized you could write different. And..I got this note from Cardosa saying, ‘That was pure Gonzo journalism!’.. Some Boston word for weird, bizarre.”

2. Unconventional, bizarre, crazy. [from 1974]
   • 2007, Mark Dery, The Pyrotechnic Insanitarium: American Culture on the Brink‎^[1], page 121:

     Nicholson’s Torrance is an evil clown […] Appropriately, pop culture has embraced him as a gonzo antihero: ads for T-shirts emblazoned with the “Here’s Johnny” Nicholson

   • 2021, Peter Oborne, The Assault on Truth, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 62:

     Johnson abandoned all of these [values] for a narcissism that mocked the style of straightforward, sober, serious, self effacing politics of the post-war era. He turned his back on the public domain and the ideas of duty, honour and obligation that defined it. For him, politics was a personal story which saw the evolution of Britain's first gonzo political journalist into our first gonzo prime minister.

Derived terms

• gonzo journalism

Noun

gonzo (plural gonzos)

1. Gonzo journalism or a journalist who produces such journalism.
   • 2000, Hunter S. Thompson and Douglas Brinkley, Fear and Loathing in America: The Brutal Odyssey of an Outlaw Journalist, 1968-1976:

     “Unstable,” indeed! Those swine. Next year we should demand a Gonzo category—or maybe RS should give it. Of course. “The First Annual Rolling Stone Award for the Year's Finest Example of Pure Gonzo Journalism.”

2. A wild or crazy person.

Further reading

• gonzo on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

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Galician

Etymology

From Old French gons, from Latin gomphus, from Ancient Greek γόμφος (gómphos), from Proto-Hellenic *gómpʰos, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵómbʰos. Doublet of golfón.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡon.θo/, [ˈɡonθʊ], (western) [ˈɡonsʊ]
• Hyphenation: gon‧zo

Noun

gonzo m (plural gonzos)

1. hinge

   Synonyms: bisagra f, porlón m

Derived terms

• engonzar
• esgonzar

References

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “gonço”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “gonzo”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “gonzo”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “gonzo”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

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Italian

Etymology

Unknown. Some suggest by aphesis from Latin verēcundus (“bashful, shamefaced”, see verecondo and vergogna).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡon.d͡zo/
• Rhymes: -ondzo
• Hyphenation: gón‧zo

Adjective

gonzo (feminine gonza, masculine plural gonzi, feminine plural gonze)

1. stupid, dumb

   Synonyms: babbeo, fesso, grullo, ingenuo, scemo, sciocco, sempliciotto, sprovveduto, stolto, stupido, tonto

Noun

gonzo m (plural gonzi, feminine gonza)

1. simpleton, dolt; dupe

   Synonyms: babbeo, fesso, grullo, ingenuo, minchione, scemo, sciocco, sempliciotto, sprovveduto, stolto, stupido, tonto

Descendants

• → French: gonze

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Portuguese

Etymology

From Old French gons, from Latin gomphus, from Ancient Greek γόμφος (gómphos), from Proto-Hellenic *gómpʰos, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵómbʰos.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡõ.zu/
• Hyphenation: gon‧zo

Noun

gonzo m (plural gonzos)

1. hinge
   • 1995, José Saramago, Ensaio sobre a cegueira, Caminho:

     Esperavam o ruído do portão ao ser aberto, o guincho agudo dos gonzos por untar, […]

     They waited for the sound of the gate being opened, the shrill squeal of the hinges in need of oil, […]