goo-goo

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   informal: lovingly sentimental or amorous, especially in the phrase goo-goo eyes

   The newlyweds kept making goo-goo eyes at each other.

2. 2
   intj

   an imitation of a baby's early babbling

   The baby answered with a cheerful goo-goo.

3. 3
   noun

   US political slang, disparaging: an advocate of good-government reform

   The newspaper mocked every municipal reformer as a goo-goo.

4. 4
   noun

   historical and offensive: a colonial-era slur for a Filipino person

   The archive identifies goo-goo as an offensive term used by American soldiers during the colonial period.

The affectionate adjective is probably imitative baby talk or an alteration of goggle and survives chiefly in goo-goo eyes. The political noun abbreviates good government. A separate offensive colonial-era use arose in US military slang in the Philippines and must be treated as a historical slur.

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images