Or Zhoozh, zhoosh, joosh, etc. This one’s just a word!
Merriam Webster defines zhuzh as… just kidding, mostly.
(Side note: I immediately thought of diving into this speech-intro trope as a blog topic later on, but Reddit user lord_mayor_of_reddit already did a much better job four years ago than I could have here: "What is the origin of Webster's Dictionary defines...?" This link and post is definitely worth a detour after you finish this post about how I like the word zhuzh)
If you don’t know exactly what I am talking about, I encourage you to click on the link below and listen to the computer say the word out loud. It may be that you know this word well, or have said it many times, but did not know how to spell it. I hadn’t seen it written until recently, and even then there are many ways to spell it online, but the one I am seeing the most is ‘zhuzh.’
I want to do some light research projects on this page, so occasionally I may have some sites and sources, but I am in no way trying to be a definitive voice on these sorts of things. I just like to find out some of the little details about the things we interact with everyday.
In that vein, NYT has a great article by Hayley Phelan on the origin of the word, linked here (‘Jeuje,’ ‘Zhoosh,’ ‘Zhuzh’: A Word of Many Spellings, and Meanings), but the best theory of where the word originated is actually a form of language called “Polari,” which was used by gay men in 1900s UK to speak in a sort of code to each other. I would have bet on Yiddish before doing research, and that’s not for sure wrong, but I really like the Polari connection and learning about what Polari was in general. The word goes back from there, and they used it to mean many different things, kind of like how “aloha” changes meaning with context. My favorite use from this article is definitely, “to zhuzh a bevvy(to gulp down a drink).” This was not a way I had used the word before, but it sure as hell will be now. The article references the possible “onomatopoetic qualities” of the word which is wonderful, but my friend Matt Parker really captured the essence of it by saying “I love words that sound exactly like what they mean.” It’s a bit different than a straight onomatopoeia, but when your intuition tells you what a word means, it’s hard not to like it. Zhuzh just seems to make sense, and it’s not a hard one to add to your lexicon.
I like to think anything can be zhuzhed up, it doesn’t have to be any specific context. Zhuzh up your morning with a specialty coffee, zhuzh up your room with a new accent plant in the corner, and definitely zhuzh up your frozen store bought pizza that you’re eating because your wife is out of town on a Friday by redistributing the pepperoni into a way better layout before you put it in the oven.
Zhuzh brings to mind young YouTube chefs and people doing fun things in the creative space, specifically Molly Baz uses it all over the place. It has an energy of positivity and hope that I can really get behind these days. You don’t need to compare yourself to everyone around you when you can zhuzh yourself up just a little today. Positive and intentional steps towards making what you have or what you’re given just that much better. It kinda embodies the spirit of what I am trying to do with this blog. Adding some writing and positive thinking to each week has already been a little beacon of light in between hard work and lots of news! This space is zhuzhing up my life already and I hope it is yours too, even if just a little.
Zhuzh! Bring it into your life and let it brighten your day! Happy Friday y’all!
I had no idea that’s how you spell zhuzh but I love it 👏👏👏
First!!