lollapalooza

English

WOTD – 7 April 2012

Alternative forms

• lallapalooza, lalapalooza, lallapaloosa, lolapalooza, lolapaloosa, lollapaloosa

Etymology

Unknown. Compare lollypaloozer and lallapalootza, which are attested earlier with similar meaning. Compare also 19th century slang la-la "something unusually good".

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌlɑləpəˈluzə/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌlɒləpəˈluːzə/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: lol‧la‧pa‧loo‧za

Noun

lollapalooza (plural lollapaloozas)

1. (informal) An outstanding, extreme, or outrageous example of its kind.
   • 1948, George Taubeneck, The Marshal's Baton: The Specialty Sales Manager, Detroit: Conjure House, →OCLC, page 98:

     When the show-down came, the other players informed him he had lost. One man had turned up a 2-4-6-8-9 of varied suits. ¶ "That," they all exclaimed, "is a Lollapalooza. It beats anything—even a Royal Flush."

   • 1991 Nov. 3, Studs Terkel, "Keillor's elegy to randy radio" (Book Review of WLT A Radio Romance by Garrison Keillor), Chicago Sun-Times (retrieved 23 July 2011):

     Here is a novel of low comedy and high raillery. It's a lollapalooza that turns out to be a comic elegy for old-time radio.

   • 2009 February 17, Jim Travers, “Harper's political payoff is the photo-op”, in Toronto Star‎^[1]:

     Far from the grand events that were once considered – speaking to Parliament or a more modest version of the lollapalooza that brought millions into Chicago streets – this six-hour hi-how-are-you redefines low key.

Derived terms

• snoozapalooza

Translations

outstanding; extreme; outrageous example of its kind

• Czech: úlet (cs) m, cufíl
• Finnish: omituisuus (fi), kummallisuus (fi)
• German: Knaller (de) m, Knüller (de) m, Kracher m
• Polish: rewelacja (pl) f, odjazd (pl) m (colloquial)