Goon Was a Cartoon Character Before It Was a Thug
A goon is a hired thug or a stupid person. The word was popularised by a comic strip.
A goon is a hired thug, or a stupid and clumsy person. The word spread through Alice the Goon, a large silent creature in the Popeye comic strip from 1933, though *goon* had existed earlier as dialect for a dull person. Labour disputes of the 1930s then attached it to hired strikebreakers, giving *goon squad*. The British radio programme *The Goon Show* took the name in 1951 and made it mean an absurd comic character instead.
- A hired thug. *A goon squad.*
- A stupid person. *Some goon.*
- A comic figure. *The Goon Show.*
- Goon squad. *A goon squad.*
- Popularised 1933. *By a comic strip.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | goon | A goon. |
| Plural | goons | Goons. |
| Compound | goon squad | A goon squad. |
| Adjective | goonish | Goonish. |
| Related | gormless | Gormless. |
- Two goons blocked the door.Thug.
- Alice the Goon appeared in 1933.History.
- The Goon Show began in 1951.Radio.
Words spread by comic strips
- Goon — from Alice the Goon in Popeye
- Jeep — often linked to Eugene the Jeep, another Popeye character
- Milquetoast — from Caspar Milquetoast, a timid cartoon figure
- Keeping up with the Joneses — from a 1913 strip
- Brainiac — from a Superman villain
Possibly from dialect *gooney*, a simpleton, popularised by the Popeye comic strip from 1933.
Where does goon come from?
It existed as dialect for a dull person, but spread widely through Alice the Goon in the Popeye comic strip from 1933.
What is a goon squad?
A group of hired thugs, a term from American labour disputes of the 1930s where such men were used against strikers.