guyascutus

English

Alternative forms

• guyascutis, gyascutus, guyanosa

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• guy-us-cutt-us

Noun

guyascutus (plural guyascutuses)

1. (US) An imaginary four-legged monster of varying descriptions, usually with two legs on one side of its body longer than the two on the other.

   When the barker yelled, "The guyascutus is loose!", the suckers fled the sideshow tent.

   • 1858, George R. Graham, Graham's Illustrated Magazine of Literature, Romance, Art, and Fashion:

     Agassis has raised, they say, over a million, for his great work on natural philosophy—but what catalogue of snakes, bugs, lame ducks, and guyascutuses, can be compared to a philosophy of female fascinations.

   • 1951, Mitford McLeod Mathews, A Dictionary of Americanisms on Historical Principles:

     The story of the guyanosa or guyascutus (see Knickerbocker Mag. XXVIII. 36-38 and Harper's Mag. VII. 708-709) tells of somesharpers who sold tickets to the public to see this strange and savage animal.

   • 1953, New York Folklore Quarterly - Volume 9, page 75:

     One person says that there is more to it: "The guyascutus Ieadeth the wangdoodle wheresoever he willeth."

   • 1968, Albert Raymond Kitzhaber, Language/Rhetoric:

     The sky was filled with steam; a horrible outcry arose, and the shape of the Guyascutus became dimly visible.

   • 1979, American Humor - Volume 6, page 15:

     The guyascutus was a ferocious, man-eating beast which, after much fanfare and sensational publicity, was exhibited in small antebellum Southern towns.

   • 2016, Theresa Bane, Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore, →ISBN, page 147:

     No matter the appearance of the chimerical guyascutus what remained consistent was the legs on one side of its body were shorter than the others but had the ability to telescope to a desired length; by use of these unique legs and its prehensile tail the guyascutus was said to be able to maneuver about the steeply sloped mountains with ease.