gonzo – Wiktionary

English

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Etymology

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Coined in 1971 by Boston Globe editor Bill Cardoso. Of uncertain origin; OED proposes Italian gonzo (“dolt”) and/or Spanish ganso (“dolt, goose”).[1] The etymology supplied by Cardoso himself (French gonzeaux) is spurious.[2]

Pronunciation

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• enPR:

  gŏnʹzō

• (

  US

  )

  IPA(key):

  /ˈɡɑnzoʊ/

• (

  UK

  )

  IPA(key):

  /ˈɡɒnzəʊ/

• Audio (Southern England)
• Rhymes:

  -ɒnzəʊ

Adjective

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gonzo (comparative more gonzo, superlative most gonzo)

1. (

   journalism

   )

   Using an unconventional, exaggerated and highly subjective style, often when the reporter takes part in the events of the story.

   • 1972, Richard Pollack, chapter VI, in Stop the Presses, I Want to Get Off!:

     I ask Hunter to explain… Just what is Gonzo Journalism?.. “Gonzo all started with Bill Cardosa [sic],..after I wrote the Kentucky Derby piece for Scanlan’s..the first time I realized you could write different. And..I got this note from Cardosa saying, ‘That was pure Gonzo journalism!’.. Some Boston word for weird, bizarre.”

2. Unconventional, bizarre, crazy. [3]
   • 2007, Mark Dery, The Pyrotechnic Insanitarium: American Culture on the Brink‎[1], page 121:

     , Mark Dery,, page 121:

     Nicholson’s Torrance is an evil clown

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     Appropriately, pop culture has embraced him as a gonzo antihero: ads for T-shirts emblazoned with the “Here’s Johnny” Nicholson

   • 2021, Peter Oborne, The Assault on Truth, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 62:

     , Peter Oborne,, Simon and Schuster,, page 62:

     Johnson abandoned all of these [values] for a narcissism that mocked the style of straightforward, sober, serious, self effacing politics of the post-war era. He turned his back on the public domain and the ideas of duty, honour and obligation that defined it. For him, politics was a personal story which saw the evolution of Britain’s first gonzo political journalist into our first gonzo prime minister.

Derived terms

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Noun

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gonzo (plural gonzos)

1. Gonzo journalism or a journalist who produces such journalism.

   • 2000, Hunter S. Thompson and Douglas Brinkley, Fear and Loathing in America: The Brutal Odyssey of an Outlaw Journalist, 1968-1976:

     “Unstable,” indeed! Those swine. Next year we should demand a Gonzo category—or maybe RS should give it. Of course. “The First Annual Rolling Stone Award for the Year’s Finest Example of Pure Gonzo Journalism.”

2. A wild or crazy person.

References

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Further reading

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Galician

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Etymology

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From Old French gons, from Latin gomphus, from Ancient Greek γόμφος (gómphos), from Proto-Hellenic *gómpʰos, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵómbʰos. Doublet of golfón.

Pronunciation

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• IPA(key):

  /ˈɡon.θo/

  ,

  [ˈɡonθʊ]

  ,

  (

  western

  )

  [ˈɡonsʊ]

• Hyphenation:

  gon‧zo

Noun

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gonzo m (plural gonzos)

1. hinge

   bisagra

   f

   , porlón

   m

Derived terms

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References

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• “gonço” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI – ILGA 2006–2022.
• “gonzo” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI – ILGA 2006–2013.
• “gonzo” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
• “gonzo” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

Italian

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Etymology

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Unknown. Some suggest by aphesis from Latin verēcundus (“bashful, shamefaced”, see verecondo and vergogna).

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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gonzo (feminine gonza, masculine plural gonzi, feminine plural gonze)

Noun

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gonzo m (plural gonzi, feminine gonza)

Descendants

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Portuguese

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Etymology

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From Old French gons, from Latin gomphus, from Ancient Greek γόμφος (gómphos), from Proto-Hellenic *gómpʰos, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵómbʰos.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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gonzo m (plural gonzos)

1. hinge

   • 1995, José Saramago, Ensaio sobre a cegueira, Caminho:

     Esperavam o ruído do portão ao ser aberto, o guincho agudo dos gonzos por untar,

      

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     They waited for the sound of the gate being opened, the shrill squeal of the hinges in need of oil,

      

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