We were listening to bouzouki music, and the conversation naturally turned to bazookas. It turns out that there's also bazooka music!
The comedian Bob Burns invented a horn-like instrument in the 1910s - he's shown with it below. It actually caught on in jazz in the 1930s. Someone jokingly called it the "bazooka" after the word "bazoo", which was slang for "mouth".
Later, in World War II, "bazooka" became the name for a new American anti-tank weapon, because it looked like this instrument.
Ironically, the slang word "bazoo", for "mouth", probably came from the word "buisine", which was the name of a medieval trumpet! And that comes from "buccina", a brass horn used by the Roman army.
In case you're wondering, he word "bouzouki" is unrelated. It comes from the Turkish word "bozuk", meaning "broken" or "modified", which refers to a particular way of tuning a string instrument where the notes are not arranged from low to high.
@TruthSandwich - it seems strange to name some bubble gum after a portable anti-tank missile. What's next? RPG chewing gum? HIMARS candies?
The article doesn't explain this name choice except that it happened shortly after WW2 and the ad campaign featured one "Bazooka Joe". But Bazooka Joe wasn't a soldier: he was a kid with an eyepatch.
I'm left hoping that the original use of "bazoo" to mean "mouth" was still relevant....
Add comment