Sunday, November 21, 2010

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About 'Gonzo', but Didn't Know You Wanted to Ask


Link to November 21 Boston Globe article, "It's totally gonzo. Did Southie slang inspire Hunter S. Thompson to label his journalism? A historian has cast doubt on that story".

Excerpt:    In South Boston, there’s a word they’ve long used on the street corners to describe a particular type of madman. Not your run-of-the-mill madman, mind you. No, this term is reserved for those who use craziness as a form of self-expression, who push it too far just to push it.

Forty years ago, unbeknownst to the people of Southie, “gonzo’’ left the neighborhood on the back of a soon-to-be-famous writer — Hunter S. Thompson — who adopted it as the name for his signature style of journalism.


The word went global. It’s in the dictionary. It’s used to describe a style of marketing and a genre of pornography. It’s why that Muppet is named Gonzo.

But now, on this unnoticed anniversary, “gonzo’’ may be taken from the people of Southie again, this time by a historian who claims the word actually originates with a New Orleans musician
.

Link to "What is Gonzo? The etymology of an urban legend", by Dr Martin Hirst, School of Journalism & Communication, University of Queensland.

The editors at Merriam-Webster believe there's not enough solid evidence to weigh in on the etymology of 'gonzo'.

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