| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| hosey |
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| SYLLABICATION: | ho·sey |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  h  z |
| INTRANSITIVE VERB: | Inflected forms: ho·seyed, ho·sey·ing, ho·seys
New England To choose sides for a children's game. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Perhaps from French (je) choisis, (I) choose, first person sing. present of choisir, to choose, from Old French. See choice. | | REGIONAL NOTE: | Children in New England, especially in the Boston area, use the expression I hosey when they are choosing sides for a game. The Boston Globe asked readers about it in late 1987 and received responses from Boston; Belmont, Massachusetts; New Hampshire; and Maine. Its users agree that it is a children's expression but are unsure of its origin—some think that it derives from a pronunciation of choose with a heavy Irish brogue. Another possible origin of the expression is French-Canadian choisir, “to choose.”
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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