aw-shucksv.
/ˌɔːˈʃʌks/, U.S. /ˌɔˈʃəks/, /ˌɑˈʃəks/ North American colloquial.
1. intransitive. To say ‘aw shucks’ (see aw shucks int.); to behave with (affected) bashfulness or self-deprecation.
ΚΠ
1964 T. Wolfe in Harper's Bazaar Nov. 210/2 Up on the terrace,..the Secretary of the Interior of the United States, is sort of aw-shucksing around.
1981 Texas Monthly Aug. 116/1 He presents himself as fundamentally simple, in touch with the basics of life... And he doesn't take himself too seriously; he aw-shuckses.
1997 Esquire Apr. 102/1 On radio phone-ins and TV talk shows alike, entertainment reporters are hearing Billy Bob's soft drawl aw-shucksing through the saga of his early days back at his grandmother's house.
2009 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 26 Jan. c5/6 Mr. Tomlin shrugged and aw-shucksed as if he didn't quite remember the words.
2. transitive. To behave in this way to (a person); to play down or dismiss (an achievement, issue, etc.), esp. with gratified embarrassment. Also: to say with (affected) self-deprecation or surprise.
ΚΠ
1968 M. Rennert Moment in Camelot p. x She let Gil go back to aw-shucksing Andy, who was telling him how much better he was than Bainbridge.
1974 Miami Herald 27 Jan. (Tropic Mag.) 23/3 Nor does Mason want to discuss how the proposal originated, preferring to aw-shucks the whole thing.
1976 L. Fleischer John Denver ii. 35/2 ‘I'm trying to expand my horizons,’ he aw-shucksed, ‘so I'll be doing a little dancing for the first time’.
1991 Sports Illustr. 13 May 42/1 Some six hours after Henderson had declared himself the greatest base stealer of all time.., Ryan aw-shucksed his own achievement.
2009 G. Plasketes B-sides, Undercurrents & Overtones x. 166 Taylor bashfully aw shucksed, ‘Yeah, it's nice that they are interested in the same thing that I do.’
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
<
v.1964