rootin' tootin'

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English[edit]

WOTD – 5 August 2023

Pronunciation[edit]

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈɹuːʔn̩ ˈtuːʔn̩/
  • Audio (Southern England)(file)
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈɹutn̩ ˈtutn̩/, /ˈɹʊt-/, [ˈɹuɾn̩ ˈtuɾn̩]
  • Hyphenation: root‧in' toot‧in'

Etymology 1[edit]

Possibly from rooty-toot (“something loudly exciting, boisterous, or riotous”, noun) (chiefly US, slang),[1][2] from rooty-toot (“to make a tooting sound; to act in a jaunty or lively manner”, verb), ultimately imitative of a trumpet’s sound,[3] perhaps also influenced[1] by toot (“to go on a drinking binge or spree”) (US, slang),[4] or tootin', tooting (intensifying adjective) (US, slang).[5]

Adjective[edit]

rootin' tootin' (humorous superlative rootinest tootinest)

  1. (US, informal, traditionally associated with the Wild West) Loudly exciting or impressive; boisterous, riotous.
    Synonym: hootin' tootin'
    • 1933 August 31, George K. Brobeck, “Fifth Business Session, August 31, 1933”, in Proceedings of the 34th National Encampment of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, August 27 – September 1, 1933 […] (73d Congress, 2d Session, House Document; no. 152), Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, published 1934, →OCLC, page 110:
      I am happy to second the nomination of that rootin’, tootin’, son-of-a-gun from Pennsylvania, Jimmy Van Zandt.
    • 1947 March 8, John A. McGee, quotee, “Indiana Society Celebrates Monon Centennial”, in Samuel O. Dunn, editor, Railway Age, volume 122, number 10, Philadelphia, Pa.: Simmons-Boardman Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 509:
      The theme song “Up and Down the Monon,” written by John A. McGee, follows: […] UP and down the Monon / Everything is fine, / ’cause that rootin’, tootin’ Monon / She’s a Hoosier line!
    • 1965 April 23, “Did You See this Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes Advertisement in This Issue? [advertisement]”, in George P. Hunt, editor, Life, volume 58, number 16, Chicago, Ill., New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 17:
      This is to remind you that you get two individual packages of the rootinest-tootinest, sweetinest flakes in Kellogg's Variety Pack.
    • 1989 May, Sean Kelly, “Eliminator [video game review]”, in Teresa Maughan, editor, Your Sinclair, number 41, London: Dennis Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 74:
      Hewson maintains its high standards with this rootin’, tootin’, killin’, maimin’, shoot ’em up. Not to be missed by arcadey types.
    • 2018 December 25, Kurt Andersen, “College-educated Professionals are Capitalism’s Useful Idiots”, in Jeffrey Goldberg, editor, The Atlantic‎[1], Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2020-08-07:
      Creative destruction was popularized in a way [Joseph] Schumpeter hadn’t meant it, as a celebratory sorry-suckers catchphrase for rootin’-tootin’ Wild West American capitalism as a permanent condition, where the rich and tough and lucky win and the losers lose hard.
    • 2020, Allison Marks, Wayne Marks, chapter 6, in Benny Feldman’s All-star Klezmer Band, Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Green Bean Books, Pen & Sword Books, →ISBN, page 34:
      "Howdy, pardners! I'm Chip! The rootinest, tootinest root vegetable this side of the Boise River," he said in a fake Western drawl. The pre-recorded words came from speakers mounted on the walls. Chip clutched a basket brimming with real potatoes against his red flannel shirt.
Alternative forms[edit]
Translations[edit]
loudly exciting or impressive — see boisterous,‎ riotous
See also[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

Probably from rooting (“of a pig: that digs or turns up with its snout; that rummages or searches”, adjective), reduplicated with a change of the initial consonant; compare also toot (“to see; to spy”).[1]

Adjective[edit]

rootin' tootin'

  1. (Lancashire, archaic, rare) Overly inquisitive about other's affairs; interfering, nosy.
    Synonyms: meddlesome, prying
    • [1881 (date recorded), John H[oward] Nodal, George Milner, “ROOTIN’”, in A Glossary of the Lancashire Dialect (Publications of the Manchester Literary Club), part II (F–Z), Manchester: […] [F]or the [Manchester] Literary Club by Alexander Ireland & Co., […]; London: Trübner & Co., […], published April 1882, →OCLC, page 228:
      ROOTIN’, […] meddlesome, inquisitive. / He’s a rootin’ tootin’ sort of a chap.]
Translations[edit]
overly inquisitive about other’s affairs — see meddlesome,‎ nosy

References[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 “rootin’ tootin’, adj.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2022.
  2. ^ “rooty-toot, n. (and adj.)”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022.
  3. ^ “rooty-toot, v.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022.
  4. ^ “toot | tout, v.3”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022; “toot, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  5. ^ “tooting, adj.2”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2020.
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