Zookersinterjection
Factsheet
What does the interjection Zookers mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the interjection Zookers. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the interjection Zookers?
| 1750 | 0.0014 |
| 1760 | 0.0016 |
| 1770 | 0.0019 |
| 1780 | 0.0021 |
| 1790 | 0.0017 |
| 1800 | 0.0025 |
| 1810 | 0.0026 |
| 1820 | 0.0028 |
| 1830 | 0.0026 |
| 1840 | 0.0021 |
| 1850 | 0.0017 |
| 1860 | 0.0015 |
| 1870 | 0.0008 |
| 1880 | 0.0007 |
| 1890 | 0.0006 |
| 1900 | 0.0006 |
| 1910 | 0.0006 |
| 1920 | 0.0006 |
| 1930 | 0.0003 |
| 1940 | 0.0003 |
| 1950 | 0.0002 |
| 1960 | 0.0001 |
| 1970 | 0.0001 |
| 1980 | 0.0002 |
| 1990 | 0.0001 |
| 2000 | 0.0001 |
| 2010 | 0.0002 |
How is the interjection Zookers pronounced?
British English
U.S. English
Where does the interjection Zookers come from?
Earliest known use
early 1600s
The earliest known use of the interjection Zookers is in the early 1600s.
OED's earliest evidence for Zookers is from 1620, in a translation by Thomas Shelton, translator.
Zookers is apparently formed within English, by clipping or shortening.
Etymons: Gadzookers int.
Nearby entries
- zoographically, adv.1835–
- zoographist, n.1749–1874
- zoography, n.1593–
- zoogyroscope, n.1880–
- zooid, n.1851–
- zooid, adj.1849
- zooidal, adj.1858–
- zooidogamous, adj.1891–
- zookeeper, n.1886–
- zookeeping, n.1929–
- Zookers, int.1620–
- Zooks, int.1600–
- zoolater, n.1876–
- zoolatrous, adj.1876–
- zoolatry, n.1784–
- zoolite, n.1768–
- zoologer, n.1663–
- zoologic, adj.1766–
- zoological, adj. & n.1686–
- zoological garden, n.1827–
- zoologically, adv.1799–
Etymology
Notes
Meaning & use
- 1620–Used as an oath or exclamation expressing asseveration, surprise, etc. Cf. Zooks int., Zoodikers int., zoonters int.
- 1620
Zwookers [Spanish Voto a Rus] (quoth Sancho) Ile not giue a farthing to know what is past.
T. Shelton, translation of M. de Cervantes, 2nd Part Don Quixote xxv. 166 - 1632
Zookers had I one of you zingle with this twigge, I would so veeze you.
P. Massinger, Emperour of East iv. i. sig. H3 - 1753
I had proceeded by Fegs, 'Faith, Pox, Plague, 'pon my life, 'pon my soul, Rat it, and Zookers, to Zauns, and the divill.
Scots Magazine October 491/1 - 1761
Zookers, that money—Oh! I am going to blab—.
A. Murphy, Way to keep Him (ed. 4) v. 101 - 1815
Zookers! if measter Bore'em were to pop in!
Sixteen & Sixty ii. ii, in New British Theatre vol. IV. 387 - 1854
‘I've..Seen him make love to another woman.’ ‘To Mrs. Nettlebed?’ ‘Zookers! no.’
W. H. Ainsworth, Flitch of Bacon iv - 1918
‘Ventre bleu! Sacre bleu! Zookers!’ said he.
J. Farnol, Our Admirable Betty 14 - 1976
Zookers, but ye've grown!
L. Sprague de Camp, Balsamo's Mirror in Magazine Fantasy & Science Fiction June 150/1
- Zooks1600–Used as an oath or exclamation expressing asseveration, surprise, etc. Cf. Gadzooks, int., Zookers, int., Zoodikers, int.
- Zookers1620–Used as an oath or exclamation expressing asseveration, surprise, etc. Cf. Zooks, int., Zoodikers, int., zoonters, int.
- Gadzooksa1652–Used as a mild oath to express surprise, alarm, etc., or to affirm the truth of a statement. Cf. Godzooks, int., Gadzookers, int.
- Gadzookers1672–Used as a mild oath to express surprise, alarm, etc., or to affirm the truth of a statement; = Gadzooks, int.
- adzooks1675–Used as an oath to express asseveration, surprise, etc.
- odzookers1688–1884
- odzooks1688–1895
- cotzooks1705–19As an asseveration or exclamation.
- Zoodikers1749–98Used as an oath or exclamation expressing asseveration, surprise, etc. Cf. Zookers, int., Zooks, int., zoonters, int.
- od's wucks1785–1850
Pronunciation
British English
U.S. English
Consonants
- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- ɬrhingyll
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing
Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence
Vowels
- iːfleece
- ihappy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- atrap, bath
- ɑːstart, palm, bath
- ɒlot
- ɔːthought, force
- ʌstrut
- ʊfoot
- uːgoose
- əletter
- əːnurse
- ɪənear
- ɛːsquare
- ʊəcure
- eɪface
- ʌɪpride
- aʊmouth
- əʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ãgratin
- ɒ̃salon
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)
Other symbols
- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.
View the pronunciation model here.
Consonants
- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye*
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing
* /d/ also represents a 'tapped' /t/ as in
Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence
Vowels
- ifleece, happy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- ætrap, bath
- ɑlot, palm, cloth, thought
- ɑrstart
- ɔcloth, thought
- ɔrnorth, force
- ʊfoot
- ugoose
- əstrut, comma
- ərnurse, letter
- ɪ(ə)rnear
- ɛ(ə)rsquare
- ʊ(ə)rcure
- eɪface
- aɪpride
- aʊmouth
- oʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ɑ̃gratin
- æ̃salon
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)
Other symbols
- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.
View the pronunciation model here.
Simple text respell breaks words into syllables, separated by a hyphen. The syllable which carries the primary stress is written in capital letters. This key covers both British and U.S. English Simple Text Respell.
Consonants
b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w and z have their standard English values
- gguy
- jjay
- yyore
- chchore
- khloch
- shshore
- ththaw
- dhthee
- zhbeige
Vowels
- atrap
- ahpalm
- airsquare
- arstart
- arrcarry (British only)
- awthought
- ayface
- a(ng)gratin
- edress
- eefleece
- eerdeer
- errmerry
- ikit
- ighpride
- irrmirror
- olot (British only)
- ohgoat
- oogoose
- oorcure
- orforce
- orrsorry (British only)
- owmouth
- oyvoice
- o(ng)salon
- ustrut
- uhletter
- urnurse
- urrhurry
- uufoot
Forms
Variant forms
- 1600sZwookers
- 1600s–Zookers
Frequency
Zookers typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
Zookers is in frequency band 1, which contains words occurring fewer than 0.001 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands
Frequency of Zookers, int., 1750–2010
* Occurrences per million words in written English
Historical frequency series are derived from Google Books Ngrams (version 2), a data set based on the Google Books corpus of several million books printed in English between 1500 and 2010.
The overall frequency for a given word is calculated by summing frequencies for the main form of the word, any plural or inflected forms, and any major spelling variations.
For sets of homographs (distinct entries that share the same word-form, e.g. mole, n.¹, mole, n.², mole, n.³, etc.), we have estimated the frequency of each homograph entry as a fraction of the total Ngrams frequency for the word-form. This may result in inaccuracies.
Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the Google Books corpus.
| Decade | Frequency per million words |
|---|---|
| 1750 | 0.0014 |
| 1760 | 0.0016 |
| 1770 | 0.0019 |
| 1780 | 0.0021 |
| 1790 | 0.0017 |
| 1800 | 0.0025 |
| 1810 | 0.0026 |
| 1820 | 0.0028 |
| 1830 | 0.0026 |
| 1840 | 0.0021 |
| 1850 | 0.0017 |
| 1860 | 0.0015 |
| 1870 | 0.0008 |
| 1880 | 0.0007 |
| 1890 | 0.0006 |
| 1900 | 0.0006 |
| 1910 | 0.0006 |
| 1920 | 0.0006 |
| 1930 | 0.0003 |
| 1940 | 0.0003 |
| 1950 | 0.0002 |
| 1960 | 0.0001 |
| 1970 | 0.0001 |
| 1980 | 0.0002 |
| 1990 | 0.0001 |
| 2000 | 0.0001 |
| 2010 | 0.0002 |
Compounds & derived words
- odzookers, int. 1688–1884
- Zoodikers, int. 1749–98Used as an oath or exclamation expressing…