Meaning

2 senses
  1. (derogatory, ethnic, offensive, slur, vulgar)A Filipino person.

  2. (US, derogatory)A government reformer.

Origin

First attested circa 1899, in US military slang, probably from American soldiers during th

First attested circa 1899, in US military slang, probably from American soldiers during the Philippine-American War hearing Tagalog gago (“idiot; fool; simpleton”) and Tagalog gaga (“female idiot; female fool”) and considering it to sound like babbling (goo goo ga ga).

From good government. Attested from the 1890s.

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Forms

plural: goo-goos

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
goo-goo — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto