fugazi
Part of speech: adj
noun
Morphological type: simple
Topics: government
military
politics
war
Etymology: Origin unknown; a number of possibilities have been suggested:
* One theory is that it is a corruption of French fougasse (“type of land mine”); flame fougasses were used extensively in the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
* Less plausibly, it might be from English fugacious (“fleeting”) or cognates such as Italian fugace (“fleeting”).
* It has also been suggested that it could be an acronym of “fucked up, got ambushed, zipped in [a body bag]”, but this is more likely a backronym, not the origin (compare FUBAR).
Inflected forms:
form: fugazis
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: fugazy
pos: noun
tags: alternative
Senses:
gloss: Fucked up; broken, damaged beyond repair.
pos: adj
tags: US
slang
examples: The two of them were getting bombed on bami-bam, beer, and joints laced with opium. That made answers to questions a long time in coming. "Hey, man, what the fuck can I tell you," said Robbie finally. "All fugazi over here. All fucked up. Number ten. The worst. Don't matter what goes down in this asshole country, know what I mean? Hey, papa-san, don't believe everything you hear, okay?"
We didn't know anything was fugazi* until we got to a certain place in the South China Sea. A loudspeaker came over the air, "This is your captain speaking. Be advised that your destination is Da Nang, Republic of Vietnam."
First time I met her. we were stuck on recon. far from the AO. deep in Indian country. the ops completely fugazi. the horn dead. and my BTO sick as skunkrot. She comes creeping by our ditch.
gloss: A thing or (less commonly) a person that is fake; a fake, a fraud.
pos: noun
tags: US
slang
examples: I took the diamond and looked it over. "I wouldn't get too excited about it," I said, "because this is fake, a fugazy." […] "It's a fugazy," I said. "Take it home for your kid to play with."
DONNIE BRASCO [Johnny Depp]: Well, you should give it [a diamond] to someone who don't know any better, because that's a fugazi. / LEFTY [Al Pacino]: That's a fugazi? How do you know it's a fugazi? You haven't looked at it for two seconds.
Stoner examined the Rolex after Mike handed it to him. He said, "Are you sure this is the real thing Mike? Most of the Rolex's out on the street are fugazy's." He used the street term for phony jewelry, but Mike knew exactly what he meant. "Hey Jack, you're gonna offend me if you talk like that. This ain't no fugazy. I've been dealing hot jewels long enough to know what I'm looking at.["]
The primacy of this immortality system to the officer's overall sense of self can be glimpsed in the fact that retired officers typically acquire a "dupe" or "fugazy"—a full-sized replica of the shield they surrendered. Often partners or workmates will present these "dupes" at a retirement party, symbolizing the recipient's continued connection to policing and the police identity.
Hey, do not accept any fugazis. Get the real thing! The genuine Pastore's Pasta can only be made with the ingredients that I've personally listed.
MARK HANNA [Matthew McConaughey]: No. Number one rule of Wall Street. Nobody – I don't care if you're Warren Buffet or if you're Jimmy Buffet – nobody knows if a stock is gonna go up, down, sideways or in fucking circles, least of all stockbrokers, right? / JORDAN BELFORT [Leonardo DiCaprio]: Mm-hmm. / MARK HANNA: It's all a fugazi [fuˈɡɑzi]. Do you know what fugazi is? / JORDAN BELFORT: Fugazi [fuˈɡeɪzi], it's a fake … / MARK HANNA: Yeah, fugazi [fuˈɡeɪzi], fugazi [fuˈɡɑzi]. It's a wahzi, it's a woozy. It's … fairy dust. It doesn't exist, it's never landed, it is no matter, it's not on the elemental chart. It's not fucking real.
Nordstrom sized up O'Malley's expression, beginning to soften from surly to inquisitive. "We got some info we thought you might be interested in." / "Ya? So what is it? One of those fugazis from the North End die from a bleeding hemorrhoid 'n Gargiulo wants me to be a pallbearer?"
Benny was taking individual bills from his banded packs, holding them up. / "What are you looking for?" she said. / "Fugazies. Counterfeit. I wouldn't put it past Joey, his last joke on everybody."
"What about fugazis?" Gio asked. "Get some glass." / "They're not fools," Maria said. "Carlo said they will have an expert to check." / Alonzo whistled. "Four mil? Sorry folks. Not even the flyest gangsters got that much ice on hand."
Ain't no facadin', ain't no fugazi / I jump it off, I get paid / Drop top Royce, I'm goin' crazy
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