wikipedia
English
Etymology
John Norton, an early wowser (temperance sense), claimed it to be an acronym for "We Only Want Social Evils Remedied", but that's likely a folk etymology.
A story has it that gospellers in the streets of w:Clunes, Victoria|Clunes, Victoria in the 1870s were called rousers but one of the town councillors had a speech impediment and couldn't pronounce his "R"s, thus giving wowser. (Reference: Bill Wannan, Australian Folklore, Lansdowne Press, 1970, reprint 1979 ISBN 0-7018-1309-1, under "Wowser", page 568.)
Pronunciation
:Rhymes: Rhymes:English:-a�z�(r)|-a�z�(r)
Noun
en-noun
- AU NZ A person with a strong moral views for temperance, abstinence, etc, and who promotes them generally or in particular seeks to impose them on other people. 1
- obsolete A lout or similar disruptive person.
Quotations
;person with strong moral views
1996, w:Janette Turner Hospital|Janette Turner Hospital, w:Oyster (novel)|Oyster, Virago Press, paperback edition, page 65
:As for the rest, the pay is not bad, coming as it does from the pockets of the three local warlords who hired me: two graziers, one of whom is also a terrible wowser (everyone calls him 'Mr Prophet', though I call him - privately, of course - Mr Brimstone, or Old Blood-and-Thunderguts); the third is the owner of the pub.
ru:wowser
vi:wowser
zh:wowser
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