Appendix:English dictionary-only terms/zzxjoanw

Etymology
The last entry in Rupert Hughes' 1903 book The Musical Guide, defined as a Maori word for “drum”, “fife”, or “conclusion”; either a hoax or a joke.

Pronunciation

 * , as the name of the famous spelling reformist of the day, George Bernard Shaw.

Noun

 * 1) * 1990, David Brin, Earth
 * Auntie Kapur tapped a steady beat on a miniature ceremonial drum — which some called a zzxjoanw — while making fatidic statements about amorous goddesses and other superstitious nonsense.
 * 1) * 2001, Dan Tilque, Maoris in SF
 * At one point, Brin has a Maori (I think it was the priestess or whatever she was[1]) playing a native drum called a zzxjoanw.
 * The problem is that "zzxjoanw" is not a Maori word and in fact is nothing at all like a Maori word. Furthermore, I understand that the Maori didn't even have drums.
 * 1) * 2003, Tony Cooper, OT: What ever happened to Fontana...
 * I also found an interesting spelling error. There is a well-known wordplay hoax involving "zzxjoanw"[1]. In the Introduction, I noticed that Morice referred to the "Zzyxjoanw Hoax" (sic). At first, I thought this may have simply been a typo, but when I found the entry "zzyxjoanw hoax", I saw that it was consistently spelled with the "y" throughout. While I thought this might have been a better spelling for this coinage, it had always been "zzx-" in all the gazillions of times I'd ever seen it! I had _never_ seen the word spelled with the "y" in it before, and I wondered what in the world was going on.
 * 1) * 2008, Joe Dunthorne, Submarine: A Novel
 * I try and find words which we are not supposed to be looking for. The word zzxjoanw: a Maori drum.
 * I try and find words which we are not supposed to be looking for. The word zzxjoanw: a Maori drum.


 * 1) * 2011, Alex Horne, Wordwatching: One Man's Quest for Linguistic Immortality, Random House (ISBN 9780753547885), page 40:
 * ... conjured up images of mature bassoonists discussing semitones and quavers or articulate percussionists typing rhythmically away about metronomes and zzxjoanws. After registering as a new member with my codename &#39;Farmer&#39;.  however.