joss
/dʒɔs/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.09 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
3
Unique Chars
Meaning
name
name
name
A surname.
verb
To invalidate a fan theory or original element of a fanwork through the introduction of new canon or retconning.
Slang; Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "Don't forget they're mostly just joss-worshipping heathen an' they don't get no kick out of the more classy breeds o' religion. Though I guess there ain't that much diff'rence. It ain't many's so Lord Almighty in theirselves that they don't need a joss of some sort, an' I guess it's what yu think about him matters not the sort o' joss."
- "She had twisted a piece of heather into her mail box for good joss, and this was the safety signal."
- "Author's note part 2: I'm leaving it to the imagination of the reader what Cordelia saw of her future. Writing that out would be asking to be Jossed."
- "I have this pet theory which will no doubt be Jossed (Greenwalted?) sooner or later. That Wes's dad is not a Watcher, but someone wealthy and financially connected with the Council (if they have all that influence, at least some of the people involved must know who they are)--in short, some kind of profiteer in the war against the forces of evil."
- "Even if your pet subject was "Jossed" by HBP (in other words, your theorizing was annihalated^([sic]) or impacted by a canon development) we'd love to have your archival works on HPInkPot - just select "pre-HBP" in the "when was this work written?" section."
Etymology
From Chinese Pidgin English joss, from Macau Pidgin Portuguese, from Portuguese deus (“god”), from Latin deus (“god”), from Proto-Indo-European *deywós (“god/that which belongs to heaven”). Doublet of Tiw and Tyr.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *dyew-, joss, -, deus, *deywós
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /dʒɔs/
- British English: /dʒɒs/
Usage
Inflected Forms
josses (plural)
ghos (alternative, obsolete)
Josses (present, singular)
Jossing (participle, present)
Jossed (participle, past)
Jossed (past)