Word of the Day

: May 12, 2011

palooka

noun puh-LOO-kuh

What It Means

1 : an inexperienced or incompetent boxer

2 : oaf, lout

palooka in Context

"The boxing audiences loved him…. Though often reckless, Mickey was never a palooka and learned from every opponent he faced." -- From Tom Fox’s 2011 book Hidden History of the Irish of New Jersey

"I said I had watched girls who had tried Arizona or Florida, after marrying some North Country palooka, but then crept back with their self-esteem lamed and moved in with their parents again…." -- From Edward Hoagland’s 2011 book Sex and the River Styx

Did You Know?

The origin of "palooka" is unknown, though various theories have been put forth. (Some sources credit the baseball player and sportswriter Jack Conway with the coinage, for example.) "Palooka" first appeared in print in 1924 and may have been popularized by a comic strip titled "Joe Palooka" (by Ham Fisher), which debuted a few years later. The probable connection between Fisher's comic and "palooka" only adds to the mystery surrounding this term, however. Joe Palooka was a boxer who was neither incompetent nor clumsy and oafish, and yet the word "palooka" came to have these negative meanings. In addition, limited evidence shows that "palooka" is occasionally used as a general synonym for "rookie" and also as a term describing horses with very little chance of winning.