February 14, 2009 5:00 AM
It's a doozy! UPDATE
Where did the word doozy, for something outstanding, come from? -- Alex
The most common answer, and the one offered by a long list of readers including Joe, below, is that it comes from the Duesenberg, an elegant, powerful car produced in the 1920s and '30s. The car was considered head and shoulders above anything else at the time and was nicknamed the doozy.
Trouble is, that word was used to describe something excellent or powerful (a doozy of a storm, for example) well before the brothers Duesenberg created their company in 1913 and began manufacturing passenger cars in the '20s.
Etymologists, including Michael Quinion at World Wide Words, believe the word derived from daisy, which, beginning in 18th-century England, meant something particularly appealing.
Quinion believes its use was influenced by Eleonora Duse, a famous Italian actress who hit New York in 1893, and, of course, the renowned car.
February 9, 2009
8:04 AM
Joe Huddle writes:
The term "doozy" comes from the Duesenberg automobile of the 30's. For its time, it represented the ultimate in style, automotive refinement, and sheer power; therefore, it was considered high praise to apply the term "doozy" to anything at all, from houses, to jewelry, or toys.