gonzo

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain,^[2][1] and Merriam-Webster Unabridged calls it unknown.^[3] It is perhaps borrowed from Italian gonzo (“fool, foolish”),^{[2][4][5][6][7][8]} or Spanish ganso (“goose; fool”).^{[2][4][5][6][9]} Etymonline takes the Italian word, Neapolitan in its view, as of unknown origin, perhaps from the Spanish one,^[8] which is of Germanic origin and related to goose;^[9][8][10] the American Heritage Dictionary and Barnhart suggest that the Italian word is short for Borgonzone (“Burgundian”).^[9][7] Hunter S. Thompson, who introduced it, said in 1972 that he had it from the editor Bill Cardosa^[8] (Wiktionary has Bill Cardoso, an editor of the “Boston Globe”^[1]) and explained it as "some Boston word for weird, bizarre".^[8] Green's Dictionary of Slang derives it instead from gone with the ending of crazo or a mock-Italian suffix, punning on gung-ho.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of journalism: committed, subjective and exaggerated, in the phrase gonzo journalism: 1971, in Hunter S. Thompson's report in Rolling Stone of 11 November,^[2][11][8] Barnhart dates it to 1972.^[7] Green's Dictionary of Slang says Thompson coined the form in Rolling Stone in 1970.^[11]

Semantic evolution

From Thompson's style, the noun came to mean gonzo journalism or a writer of it (1972),^[2] and the adjective took the general sense "bizarre, crazy, far-fetched" (1974).^[2] A gonzo was a crazy person or fool by 1977,^[2][11] and in American campus slang the word also meant very drunk by 1980.^[11] The Muppet character Gonzo first appeared in 1970, but Etymonline thinks his name developed after Thompson's use of the word,^[8] and Barnhart notes that the puppet helped to popularize it.^[7]

Timeline

• 1971 – in gonzo journalism, a subjective, exaggerated style of reporting.^{[2][3][11][8]} Barnhart dates it to 1972.^[7]
• 1972 – noun, gonzo journalism; a journalist who writes in this style.^[2]
• 1974 – bizarre, crazy; far-fetched.^[2]
• 1977 – noun, a crazy person, a fool.^[2][11]
• 1980 – in American campus slang, very drunk.^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of journalism: written from the reporter's own involvement in the events, with no claim to objectivity and often with exaggeration: a gonzo account of the election campaign.^[3][6][2]
2. (slang) Wild, bizarre or crazy.^[6][2][11]

Noun

1. Gonzo journalism, or a journalist who writes it.^[2][4]
2. (slang) A wild or crazy person; a fool.^[6][2][11]

Related words

• gonzo journalism

Usage notes

Green's Dictionary of Slang also records a separate gonzo, from gone, meaning gone or absent (1974) and finished or useless (1999).^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
7. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com