entry
goon
/ɡuːn/A foolish person, thug, or enforcer
From English, possibly Middle English goon (Foolish).
from Middle English gone, a variant of gome (“man, person”). Gony was applied by sailors to the albatross and similar...
Word Ancestry
from Middle English gone, a variant of gome (“man, person”). Gony was applied by sailors to the albatross and similar...
The trail begins with a foggy little word: Middle English gone, possibly meaning “man” or “person,” though the connection is uncertain. By the 1580s, gony meant a simpleton, and sailors stretched it toward the enormous, awkward albatross—a bird built like a feathered suitcase with wings. In December 1921, American humorist Frederick J. Allen gave goon a brief newspaper life as someone with a “heavy touch,” the opposite of a light-fingered jigger. Then E.C. Segar’s Popeye comic strip introduced Alice the Goon, a huge, slow-witted but gentle character, helping push the word toward “muscular thug”; by 1938, union enforcers were being called goons. Later, Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers made foolish goons audible around the world through The Goon Show, while modern slang has added an explicit sexual verb—but the memorable core remains a clumsy bird turned into a human bruiser.
The Story
The trail begins with a foggy little word: Middle English gone, possibly meaning “man” or “person,” though the connection is uncertain. By the 1580s, gony meant a simpleton, and sailors stretched it toward the enormous, awkward albatross—a bird built like a feathered suitcase with wings. In December 1921, American humorist Frederick J. Allen gave goon a brief newspaper life as someone with a “heavy touch,” the opposite of a light-fingered jigger. Then E.C. Segar’s Popeye comic strip introduced Alice the Goon, a huge, slow-witted but gentle character, helping push the word toward “muscular thug”; by 1938, union enforcers were being called goons. Later, Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers made foolish goons audible around the world through The Goon Show, while modern slang has added an explicit sexual verb—but the memorable core remains a clumsy bird turned into a human bruiser.
Modern Usage
To masturbate, especially in an obsessive or energetic way
Notable References
- The Goon Show
- Popeye
Kin & Kindred
From 'goon'·Foolish, clumsy, or intimidating person
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary
Wiktionary