▪ I. razoo1 N. Amer. slang.
(rəˈzuː)
Also razzoo, razzooh.
[Prob. alteration of raspberry 4 (cf. razzberry, razz n.) with arbitrary suffix -oo, perh. after kazoo.]
Ridicule; the arousing of indignation or the like, provocation; a sound of contempt, a ‘raspberry’. Also in phr. to give the razoo: to ridicule. So as v. trans., to arouse or provoke; to manhandle.
| 1890 Grip (Toronto) 18 Jan. 40/1 Shall I razoo old Mowat on the Separate School business? Ibid. 19 Apr. 265/1 What is all this racket about the Independence of Parliament?.. It is dependent on the presence of Members..on the whips razoo round. 1908 H. Green Maison de Shine 208 Can't a man take a flat o' beer wit' out gittin' the razoo? 1926 Flynn's 16 Jan. 639/2 The ginny with th' poke gave th' fly th' razoo an' we split a bunch of nifty kale. 1939 R. Chandler Big Sleep xxvi. 235 My information is Apartment 301, but all I get there is the big razzoo. 1942 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §297/1 Ridicule; banter,..razoo. Ibid. §297/4 (Ripe) raspberry or razzberry, razoo, a sound of contempt by vibrating the tongue between the lips, loosely any expression of derision or ridicule, hence ridicule. Ibid. §297/5 Ridicule; banter,..give the razz or the razoo. 1944 H. Wentworth Amer. Dial. Dict. 496/1 Razoo, to manhandle, use roughly. 1959 Washington Post 22 Dec. c–18/5 Yesterday's hero, Fidel Castro, now gets the lustiest Bronx razzoohs since Adolf Hitler was flipping his wig for the cameras. |
▪ II. razoo2 Austral. and N.Z. slang.
(ˈrɑːzuː)
Also rahzoo, razhoo.
[Origin uncertain.]
A (non-existent) coin of trivial value, a ‘farthing’. Also in phr. brass razoo. Used in neg. contexts only.
| 1930 Bulletin (Sydney) 5 Nov. 21/1 The useless graft on patch and flat! They never think a bloke has earned a darned razoo for that. 1931 W. Hatfield Sheepmates xxx. 268 Richards never has a rahzoo. 1940 F. D. Davison Woman at Mill ii. 151, I found myself on the streets again, without a brass razoo. 1943 Coast to Coast 1942 118 Up till the present he hadn't a brass razoo towards the seven and sixpence. 1947 J. Morrison Sailors belong Ships 187, I wouldn't give you a razhoo for anything between there and Charmian Road. 1964 J. Cleary Flight of Chariots viii. 361, I wouldn't give a brass razoo for his chances out there. 1968 R. Clapperton No News on Monday vii. 80 He isn't rolling in the stuff—he hasn't got two brass razoos to rub together. 1976 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 25 Apr. 16/7 Last week he signed a contract for the new $356,000 building and then cheerfully announced: ‘I haven't a razoo.’ |