-eroosuffix
Primary stress is attracted to the second syllable of this suffix and vowels may be reduced accordingly.
Origin: Of uncertain origin. Perhaps formed within English, by clipping or shortening. Etymon: buckaroo n.
Etymology: Origin uncertain. Perhaps < -aroo in buckaroo n., itself a borrowing from Spanish.US formations in -eroo , -aroo (e.g. buckaroo n.) are discussed in Amer. Speech (1942) 17 10f., and in T. Pyles Words & Ways Amer. Eng. (1952) 199. It has been suggested that the proliferation of the suffix in the United States c1940 may have arisen from the location of US troops in the South Pacific during World War II, but in fact formations in American English date back to the early 1930s, e.g. flopperoo n., switcheroo n., stinkeroo n. Australian and New Zealand words in -aroo and -eroo (dating from the 18th and 19th centuries), e.g. kangaroo n., puckeroo v., are of Australian Aboriginal or Maori origin (respectively).
1964 8 July 7/6 Those jerkeroos feel embarrassed.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1972; most recently modified version published online June 2022).