what's a fuzzy-wuzzy?
tha...@desire.wright.edu
I was looking through the Oxford Encycl. English Dictionary today and happened
to look at the F section. There was a definition for "fuzzy-wuzzy" indicating
that it is a derogatory term for "A Coloured native of any country."
I was concerned because I remember fuzzy wuzzy as "Fuzzy-wuzzy was a
bear/Fuzzy-wuzzy had no hair..."
Quesitons:
1. Is anyone else surprised as to the derogatory meaning of fuzzy-wuzzy?
2. What's the rest of that rhyme?
-----ted hayes
The Meach
>
>I was looking through the Oxford Encycl. English Dictionary today and happened
>to look at the F section. There was a definition for "fuzzy-wuzzy" indicating
>that it is a derogatory term for "A Coloured native of any country."
>
>I was concerned because I remember fuzzy wuzzy as "Fuzzy-wuzzy was a
>bear/Fuzzy-wuzzy had no hair..."
>
>Quesitons:
>
>1. Is anyone else surprised as to the derogatory meaning of fuzzy-wuzzy?
Very interesting. . . I had never heard of this, so I *was* surprised,
initially, but I guess I can see where it would have come from. . .
>2. What's the rest of that rhyme?
"Fuzzy-wuzzy wasn't fuzzy, was he?"
--jtm
So, Detlef. . . which column do I mark this one in?
Jeffq
tha...@desire.wright.edu writes:
>I was looking through the Oxford Encycl. English Dictionary today and happened
>to look at the F section. There was a definition for "fuzzy-wuzzy" indicating
>that it is a derogatory term for "A Coloured native of any country."
>I was concerned because I remember fuzzy wuzzy as "Fuzzy-wuzzy was a
>bear/Fuzzy-wuzzy had no hair..."
Symbolic analysis! A derogatory term for a Russian is a 'bear.' Perhaps
the author of Fuzzy-wuzzy wanted to portray Russians as being hairless?
On a deeper note, I seem to remember in history a Russian's status as bearded or
unbearded as relating to his or her political stance (probably conservative
and liberal, resp.) It can be concluded, then, that Fuzzy-wuzzy is
a personification of early Russian liberalism. In contrast, the tense of
the rhyme indicates Fuzzy-wuzzy as having deceased. Perhaps the author of
the rhyme was conveying his views on early Russian liberalism!
The entire rhyme, if I remember, runs:
Fuzzy-wuzzy was a bear
Fuzzy-wuzzy had no hair...
Fuzzy-wuzzy was not fuzzy, was he?
Yes, I have nothing else better to do!
-jq
--
,;';,.,;';,.,;';,.,;';,.,;';,.,;';,.,;';,.,;';,.,;';,.,;';,.,;';,.,;';,
,;';, cae...@ucscb.ucsc.edu Jeff Ishaq .,;';,
,;';, I am a meatball: Bite me. Guitar withdrawal! .,;';,
,;';,.,;';,.,;';,.,;';,.,;';,.,;';,.,;';,.,;';,.,;';,.,;';,.,;';,.,;';,
hume smith
>>>>> On 19 Feb 93 11:54:59 EST, tha...@desire.wright.edu said:
thayes> I was looking through the Oxford Encycl. English Dictionary today and happened
thayes> to look at the F section. There was a definition for "fuzzy-wuzzy" indicating
thayes> that it is a derogatory term for "A Coloured native of any country."
thayes> I was concerned because I remember fuzzy wuzzy as "Fuzzy-wuzzy was a
thayes> bear/Fuzzy-wuzzy had no hair..."
thayes> Quesitons:
thayes> 1. Is anyone else surprised as to the derogatory meaning of fuzzy-wuzzy?
yes.
thayes> 2. What's the rest of that rhyme?
so fuzzy-wuzzy wasn't fuzzy, was he?
shee, i thought that was rhyme only my mother knew :-)
i think, because it says fuzzy-wuzzy was a bear, the rhyme
isn't intended to be derogatory. from the ending, it seems
to me to be just a silly rhyme on slurry speech, of
marezy dotes (mares eat oats)
andozy dotes (and does eat oats)
and little lambs eat ivy.
akidileedivy too, (a kid'll eat ivy too)
wooden shoe. (wouldn't you?)
ilk. (i've actually met people who never realised "marezy dotes"
wasn't really a nonsense song.)
i wonder which came first? (the fuzzy-wuzzy rhyme or the connotation)
--
Hume Smith Look, it's perfectly Sybil.
hume....@acadiau.ca Simple's not well.
hume....@bnr.ca She's lost her throat and her voice hurts...
M.J. Horsfall
>Quesitons:
According to Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional
English the term originally came from Australia (ca. 1918) and was pointed
towards Papuans.
According to my 3 year old, the rhyme is:
Fuzzy-Wuzzy was a bear,
Fuzzy-Wuzzy had no hair,
Fuzzy-Wuzzy wasn't very fuzzy,
Was he?
Mike
--
mj...@troi.cc.rochester.edu======M.J. Horsfall======Department of Biophysics
Phone:(716)-275-8703 (Lab) University of Rochester=
=="You don't really care for people, but you think they can be improved;===
====I do, and I know they can't." -Joseph Conrad's remark to H.G. Wells====
Andrew Lewis
|> In article <1993Feb19....@desire.wright.edu> tha...@desire.wright.edu writes:
|> >
|> >I was looking through the Oxford Encycl. English Dictionary today and happened
|> >to look at the F section. There was a definition for "fuzzy-wuzzy" indicating
|> >that it is a derogatory term for "A Coloured native of any country."
|> >
|> >
|> >1. Is anyone else surprised as to the derogatory meaning of fuzzy-wuzzy?
|>
|> Very interesting. . . I had never heard of this, so I *was* surprised,
|> initially, but I guess I can see where it would have come from. . .
|>
in the Second World War), Corporal Jones was wont to start making comments
about fixing bayonets and the "fuzzy-wuzzies not liking the cold steel up them",
evidently harking back to British military actions in Africa (prior to those of
the period in which the series was set). I believe the term originally referred
specifically to blacks - an offensive reference to their hair.
Andrew
Dennis Baron
>i think, because it says fuzzy-wuzzy was a bear, the rhyme
>isn't intended to be derogatory. from the ending, it seems
>to me to be just a silly rhyme on slurry speech, of
>
> marezy dotes (mares eat oats)
Or eenie, meenie, minie, moe ... ?
--
Dennis
deb...@uiuc.edu (\ 217-333-2392
\'\ fax: 217-333-4321
Dennis Baron \'\ __________
Department of English / '| ()_________)
Univ. of Illinois \ '/ \ ~~~~~~~~ \
608 S. Wright St. \ \ ~~~~~~ \
Urbana IL 61801 ==). \__________\
(__) ()__________)
FRED GATES (EKT)
>Quesitons:
>-----ted hayes
The rest of the rhyme is :
"Fuzzy-wuzzy wasn't really fuzzy/Wuz 'e"
or that's the way I heard it. As to the derogatory nature when applied to a
person I think it depends on the way its said and to whom. It is not
customary to allude to personal features when addressing somebody.
Fred
wil...@vax.oxford.ac.uk
>
> I was looking through the Oxford Encycl. English Dictionary today and happened
> to look at the F section. There was a definition for "fuzzy-wuzzy" indicating
> that it is a derogatory term for "A Coloured native of any country."
>
> I was concerned because I remember fuzzy wuzzy as "Fuzzy-wuzzy was a
> bear/Fuzzy-wuzzy had no hair..."
>
> Quesitons:
> 1. Is anyone else surprised as to the derogatory meaning of fuzzy-wuzzy?
It sounds to me like the sort of word that was current and acceptable in the
30s or 40s when almost all the British population was white. I would be
extremely surprised to hear it now, except from the lips of a retired colonel
living in the past and the Home Counties.
> 2. What's the rest of that rhyme?
On the other hand, in that rhyme the word seems quite natural. I suspect it's
one of those words which isn't offensive in *every* context but can be used
offfensively. The last line, BTW, is `He wasn't fuzzy, was 'e?', but I can't
remember the previous line, if it exists.
--
Stephen Wilcox | For Sale: Posts in British Government. Suit
wil...@vax.oxford.ac.uk | outgoing American. Highest bids accepted.
m...@waikato.ac.nz
I seem to react to this expression in the same way as Stephen. It is
not an expression in current use in NZ, but when it was, say in the
50's it was used pejoratively for Melanesians.
Not really related to the above, but I can't resist posting a 40's
ditty which my parents generation used to tease Australians with:
Is he an aussie, Lizzy? Is he?
Is he an aussie, Lizzy? eh?
Is he an aussie, Lizzy? Does he,
make you go all fuzzy-wuzzie?
Is he an aussie, Lizzy? Has he,
got you in a tizzie-wizzie?
Is he an aussie, Lizzy? Is he?
Is he an aussie, Lizzy? eh?
I think that it was British music-hall in origin.
--
Murray A. Jorgensen [ m...@waikato.ac.nz ] University of Waikato
Department of Mathematics and Statistics Hamilton, New Zealand
Steve Hayes
>> Quesitons:
>> 1. Is anyone else surprised as to the derogatory meaning of fuzzy-wuzzy?
>
>It sounds to me like the sort of word that was current and acceptable in the
>30s or 40s when almost all the British population was white. I would be
>extremely surprised to hear it now, except from the lips of a retired colonel
>living in the past and the Home Counties.
I thought it referred more specifically to Sudanese in the 1880s.
The rhyme, as I remember it, is
Fuzzy Wuzzy wuz a bear
Fuzzy Wuzzy 'ad no 'air.
If Fuzzy Wuzzy 'ad no 'air
Then Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't fuzzy, wuz 'e?
============================================================
Steve Hayes, Department of Missiology & Editorial Department
Univ. of South Africa, P.O. Box 392, Pretoria, 0001 South Africa
Internet: haye...@risc1.unisa.ac.za
steve...@p5.f22.n7101.z5.fidonet.org
stephe...@f20.n7101.z5.fidonet.org
Meteorology General
>
> I was looking through the Oxford Encycl. English Dictionary today and happened
> to look at the F section. There was a definition for "fuzzy-wuzzy" indicating
> that it is a derogatory term for "A Coloured native of any country."
>
> I was concerned because I remember fuzzy wuzzy as "Fuzzy-wuzzy was a
> bear/Fuzzy-wuzzy had no hair..."
>
> Quesitons:
> 1. Is anyone else surprised as to the derogatory meaning of fuzzy-wuzzy?
My variant of the rhyme (and I do think it one of the better ones ...):
Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear,
A Bear was Fuzzy Wuzzy.
If Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair,
He wasn't fuzzy wuzzy (was he)!
"Fuzzy wuzzy angels" refers to the (native) Papua New Guineans (?) who
assisted allied (Australian and New Zealand principally) troops in
WWII. Think of the Kokoda trail -- but I suspect I am in the wrong
newsgroup. In this context clearly not derogatory.
As a derogatory term it was used by a character from "Dad's Army"
(BBC sitcom set in WWII) referring to Zulus in the Zulu wars.
Would Graham care to give us a quote?
Mick J.
mi...@mullara.met.unimelb.edu.au don't believe the attribution