Lollapalooza

Word of the Day for Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Lollapalooza \lol-uh-puh-LOO-zuh\, noun:

an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance.

In America, the German announcement prompts Mayor La Guardia to tell City Hall reporters, “Any American who can believe that lollapalooza of a Nazi lie has sunk to the lowest possible level.”
-- Philip Roth, The Plot Against America

It was a lollapalooza of a tour, all right—a "luxury hotel barge cruise” which began in the Champagne country and then went, via hot air balloon, to Burgundy for more barging, through Beaujolais, to the Riviera and Cannes and Monte Carlo...
-- Donna Tartt, The Secret History

Though the origins of this Americanism are uncertain, we can be sure that lollapalooza strutted onto the linguistic stage in the first decade of the 20th century.

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com