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The term originated in
Australia, at first carrying a similar meaning to "lout" (an annoying or disruptive person, or even a prostitute). Around 1900 it shifted to its present meaning: one whose sense of morality drives them to deprive others of their sinful pleasures, especially liquor. The term was
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magazine w/e 10 April 1940, the word was discussed, and the author of the "Contact" column was still bemused until he received a card from a gentleman in
Bristol who said "Broadly speaking, 'wowsers' are pious hypocrites, those who dislike seeing others enjoy themselves, usually in evidence amongst
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the achievements of the wowsers were impressive; they passed laws that restricted obscenity and juvenile smoking, raised the age of consent, limited gambling, closed down many pubs, and in 1915–16 established a
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61:. However some authors claim that the present meaning originated from an Australian temperance slogan, "We Only Want Social Evils Remedied." This apparent
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30:" is an Australian and New Zealand term that refers to a person who seeks to deprive others of behaviour deemed to be immoral or sinful.
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Australian
National Dictionary Centre Research School of Humanities & the Arts ANU College of Arts & Social Sciences
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defined it thus: 'Wowser: an ineffably pious person who mistakes this world for a penitentiary and himself for a warder'.
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Americans rarely use the word, except as an interjection of surprise. However it appears several times in the works of
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252:"Whinger! Wanker! Wowser! 'Aussie English insults: deprecatory language and the Australian Ethos'"
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185:), "You're such a wowser" when the latter refuses to buy certain types of magazines for him.
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125:, who fought many battles with "wowsers" over the sexual content in his art and writing.
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Proceedings of the 2003 Australian
Linguistic Society, Australian Journal of Linguistics
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takes precedence of his abilities as tax-collector and wowser." (
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is considered a "less credible provenance" by the ANU.
276:"Meanings and origins of Australian words and idioms"
121:"Wowser" was frequently used by artist and author
153:is more interesting than the fiscal cares of the
101:'Auntie Pratten Censors the Sabbath', cartoon by
282:. Australian National University. 6 October 2012
326:The Oxford History of Australia: vol 4: 1901–42
53:, editor of the Australian scandal newspaper,
43:groups such as the antipodean branches of the
117:(depicted as the wowserish 'Auntie Pratten').
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19:For the fictional dog known as Wowser, see
226:Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
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365:Political terminology in New Zealand
133:the elder members of a community."
88:for pubs, which lasted for decades.
39:particularly applied to members of
355:Political terminology in Australia
113:and a minister in his Government,
45:Woman's Christian Temperance Union
16:Australasian slang for a moralizer
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313:South Australia and Federation
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350:Pejorative terms for people
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221:"Keeping Sundays sacred"
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86:6 pm closing hour
68:The Australian writer
149:"In the same way the
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324:Macintyre, Stuart.
157:, and the craft of
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93:In popular culture
21:Wowser (TV series)
360:New Zealand slang
328:(2002) p. 112–113
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107:Smith's Weekly
105:(published in
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155:Four Hundred
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70:C. J. Dennis
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232:21 December
200:Larrikinism
195:Teetotaller
179:Don Cheadle
103:Cecil Hartt
51:John Norton
339:Categories
206:References
183:Matt Damon
177:, Basher (
75:Historian
41:temperance
286:6 October
130:The Motor
63:backronym
250:(2004),
189:See also
159:Pericles
79:argues:
34:History
28:Wowser
255:(PDF)
55:Truth
288:2012
261:: 11
234:2020
171:In
128:In
59:OED
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278:.
267:^
257:,
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