Word of the Day
for Thursday,
October 3, 2013
Hoosgow \HOOS-gou\, noun:
Slang. a jail.
“You told Vera that
Carl Webster dropped you off here. This policeman who wants to put me in the hoosgow.”
-- Elmore Leonard, Up in Honey's Room, 2007
-- Elmore Leonard, Up in Honey's Room, 2007
"...I got on his
tail when they sprung him yesterday noon. He went from the hoosgow
to a hotel on Kearny Street and got himself a room."
-- Dashiell Hammett, The Dain Curse, 1929
-- Dashiell Hammett, The Dain Curse, 1929
Hoosgow is likely a mispronunciation of the Mexican Spanish juzgao
meaning "tribunal, court." This ultimately comes from the Latin judicare
meaning "to judge."
Thanks to: www.dictionary.com
