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gonzo - 4 dictionary results
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gon⋅zo

  [gon-zoh] Slang.
Use gonzo in a Sentence
–adjective
1. (of journalism, reportage, etc.) filled with bizarre or subjective ideas, commentary, or the like.
2. crazy; eccentric.
–noun
3. eccentricity, weirdness, or craziness.
Origin:
1970–75, Americanism; appar. first used in the phrase Gonzo journalism by U.S. journalist Hunter S. Thompson (b. 1939); perh. < It: simpleton, one easily duped (of uncert. orig.) or < Sp ganso a lazy or dull person, lit., goose (< Gmc; see goose )
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To gonzo
gon·zo   (gŏn'zō)   
adj.   Slang
  1. Using an exaggerated, highly subjective style, especially in journalism: "a hyperkinetic, gonzo version of Graham Greene" (New Yorker).
  2. Bizarre; unconventional.

[Perhaps Italian, simpleton (perhaps short for Borgonzone, Burgundian) or Spanish ganso, dullard, goose (of Germanic origin; see ghans- in Indo-European roots).]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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gonzo

/gon'zoh/ adj. [from Hunter S. Thompson]
1. With total commitment, total concentration, and a mad sort of panache. (Thompson's original sense.)
2. More loosely: Overwhelming; outrageous; over the top; very large, esp. used of collections of source code, source files, or individual functions. Has some of the connotations of moby and hairy, but without the implication of obscurity or complexity.
Jargon File 4.2.0
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gonzo 
1971, Amer.Eng., in Hunter S. Thompson's phrase gonzo journalism, from It. gonzo "simpleton, blockhead." Thompson in 1972 said he got it from editor Bill Cardosa, and explained it as "some Boston word for weird, bizarre."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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