goo-goo

c. 1899, US military slang from a clipping of goo goo ga ga, coined by American soldiers during the Philippine-American War when they first heard Tagalog gago (“idiot; fool; simpleton”) and Tagalog gaga (“female idiot; female fool”), which they kept on describing the resemblance of those words to goo goo ga ga as imitative of babbling to denigrate their Filipino enemies in the war.^[1][2]

Possibly influenced by goo-goo eyes, which "was in vogue c. 1900 and may have contributed to this somehow"^[1] since early uses of goo-goo and gook refer specifically to prostitutes who followed army camps.^[3]

Adopted as an ethnic slur by American troops during the Philippine-American War. See also gook.

• gugu

goo-goo (plural goo-goos)

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

From good government. Attested from the 1890s.

• Goo-Goo

goo-goo (plural goo-goos)

1. (US, politics, derogatory) A government reformer.
   • 1912 December 4, “Voters, Aroused, Rout Goo-Goo Gangsters”, in Los Angeles Times‎^[1], archived from the original on 30 June 2013:

     Stinging Rebuke Administered to Bald Attempt to Grab City; Goo-Goo Clique Swept Off Their Feet by Landslide Against Municipal Freak

   • 1993 December 7, Mike Royko, “Pass the pablums, it's goo-goo time”, in Chicago Tribune‎^[2], archived from the original on 30 June 2013, page 13:

     Some goo-goos are so relentless in their pursuit of goo-gooism that they become a public menace.

• do-gooder

Uncertain; perhaps from goggle. Attested from 1900.

goo-goo (comparative more goo-goo, superlative most goo-goo)

1. (slang, usually of the eyes) Amorous, affectionate.
   • 1900, “Just Because She Made Dem Goo-goo Eyes”, John Queen (lyrics), Hughley Cannon (music):

     I wants to ask one question now, please let me call you dear, It cost a lot to gain a rep. But I’ll blow the road right here, if you’ll be mine, if you’ll be mine, Just because you makes them goo-goo eyes

   • 2011, Carolyn Moring Lowes, Awakening Avery‎^[3], page 2:

     I have to admit he is really easy on the eyes, but I don’t go all goo-goo over him every time he’s near like most of the girls in class.

   • 2012, Mitchel P. Roth, Tom Kennedy, Houston Blue: The Story of the Houston Police Department‎^[4], page 52:

     A Ordinance to Suppress Flirting, aka “Goo-Goo Eyes” (1905)
     The so-called “Goo-Goo Eyes” ordinance prescribed penalties for men who made “goo-goo eyes at, or in any other manner look at or make remarks to or concerning, or cough or whistle at, or do any other act to attract the attention of any woman.”

• goo-goo eyes

goo-goo

1. (onomatopoeia) The noise of a baby trying to imitate speech.

• goo goo ga ga

• Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “goo-goo”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

• goo goo ga ga