oojahn.

Etymology: Origin uncertain. Perhaps shortened < a formation similar to whatchamacallit n. (compare what-d'ye-call-'em n.); compare oo pron.², but perhaps either < a nonsense word used as an exotic-sounding name (see quot. 1901 in etymological note), or < Urdu and Persian ḥujjat argument, pretence, excuse and its etymon Arabic ḥujja argument, pretext (see etymological note and compare oojah capivvy n.).Oojah occurs earlier in English context as the nonsense name of an exotic animal in a humorous song, but this is perhaps an unconnected use:1901 Daily Northwestern 15 May 5/1 I have tried the Uambago, boiled and roasted, baked and fried: I have chewed the woolly Oojah stuffed with yam. The word is also found as the name of cartoon and comic characters, especially during the 1920s. It was suggested by J. Manchon in Le Slang (1923) that the word was of Hindustani origin, and the first article that has been found referring to its use in the present sense also suggests an Eastern source:1917 Washington Post 22 July 10/1 An entirely new crop of slang has come into use in the British army during the past year... Oojah may come from the East, with ‘cushy’ and ‘blighty’ and ‘hondook’. It is also possible that oojah might have been shortened < a longer Urdu and Indo-Persian or Arabic phrase (compare oojah capivvy n.), although the longer forms are only attested slightly later.