Brass razoo is an Australian phrase that was first recorded in soldiers' slang in World War I. It is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as "a non-existent coin of trivial value".[1] It is commonly used in the expression I haven't got a brass razoo, meaning the speaker is out of money.
Whilst mock coins of 1 Razoo are occasionally produced, no actual monetary unit has ever been so named. Some speculate that the term arises from Egyptian or Indian currency.Шаблон:Citation needed
Etymologists and lexicographers have disputed and considered theories of the origins of the phrase, but most find no theory satisfactory.[2]
Origin
Razoo may be a corruption of a sou, the smallest French coin.Шаблон:Citation neededBrass is a common slang term for 'money'.[1]
Eric Partridge, in his Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, cites the Māori word rahu. Harry Orsman's Dictionary of New Zealand English (1997) makes a more confident conjecture.[2]
Another posited origin is a phrase used by Australian soldiers serving in France, and considered a joking reference used between Australian infantry and American troops. It was based on the Yankee "blowing a raspberry" also called a "razoo", a mouth-sound made to sound like a fart.[2]
