Jump to Navigation. What is this "fluff it up" word that's so hard to spell? April 30, The Quick And Dirty "Zhuzh" is so hard to spell because the "zh" sound is rare in English, and this word also doesn't follow the typical English or even French spelling patterns. As an Amazon Associate and a Bookshop. Neal Whitman PhD is an independent writer and consultant specializing in language and grammar and a member of the Reynoldsburg, Ohio, school board.
Follow Facebook Linkedin. You May Also Like In February , Netflix launched a reboot of Queer Eye , the former Bravo series in which five gay men perform a makeover of a fellow needing help in the areas of fashion, grooming, living space, food, and social grace. The first two seem to have gained the most traction. Half-watching any of its eight episodes, the viewer feels its aspirational anima infuse the room.
Summer is the season of laid-back hairstyles that need nothing more than a spritz of salt spray and a maybe a quick zhuzh before heading out the door. Fellow celebrity hairstylist Chad Wood recently mentioned he loves to use pomade to zhuzh up second-day curls, and if it can give Bellisario results, pomade is firmly on the shopping list.
Some attribute the word to Polari, a kind of slang used in the British underground performing arts as well as the gay subculture; the OED cites use with the spelling zhoosh that dates to Kressley told the Sydney Morning Herald in that he learned the term while working for the clothing designer Ralph Lauren.
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Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English. PeterShor: YES!!! That seems to be it! Makes perfect sense! Why don't you post an answer so that I can accept it? ArmenTsirunyan This is old Polari slang. All those crowdsourced online sources are really lame, and far off the mark.
The OED has it right , of course. Polari minimally dates from the 19th century, and parts of it may date from the 16th. Show 6 more comments. Active Oldest Votes.
Improve this answer. Peter Shor Peter Shor It turns out that zhoozh is actually Polari , and as such has been around for a very long time. It may be or even older. Perhaps you could please update your answer to include better references. It was added in The first noun use meaning clothing is only from , and the verb use attested only since It certainly antedates those, but is hard to prove.
The pronunciation given is Brit. The main verb sense follows: slang orig. Originally among homosexual men: to make more stylish or smart; to enliven, make more exciting. I've added a link which says that the first citation the OED has for zhoosh is to So it's at least 35 years old. If Wikipedia is right, it comes from the Romani word zhouzho, so it's probably quite a bit older than that.
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