lollapalooza
English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Unknown. Compare lollypaloozer and lallapalootza, which are attested earlier with similar meaning. Compare also 19th century slang la-la "something unusually good".
Pronunciation
[edit]- (General American) IPA(key): /ˌlɑləpəˈluzə/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌlɒləpəˈluːzə/
Audio (General Australian): (file) - Hyphenation: lol‧la‧pa‧loo‧za
Noun
[edit]lollapalooza (plural lollapaloozas)
- (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.