Wiz...He's a Wiz ,, I have to take a wiz...Cheeze Wiz...are these connected?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: goofball,

It's hard to say, but here's my take on it. The spelling of wiz/whiz/whizz being one difficulty. Cheez Whiz is a trademarked name, invented by Kraftfoods in 1953. "He's a w(h)iz" (though I would spell it as wiz because I would take it to be an abbreviation of wizard). As for urination, here's the stats from googling (ghits = Google hits):

"take a whiz" 17.4K ghits
"take a wiz" 2.13K ghits
"take a whizz" 1.38K ghits

I see two possibilities, perhaps related: whiz, of imitative origin, means to go very fast. Fast enough to make a whizzing noise, I suppose. But compare whiz and piss. The vowel is the same, at least in American English. Both words begin with labial sounds and end with sibilants. There is also the noise factor, with a sustained sibilant being used imitatively when miming the act of urination amongst folks prone to such acts.

There's whiz, which is a slang term for speed or amphetamines.

Except for wiz, short for wizard, none of these words have established etymologies, and so it would be tough to categorically state whether they were related or not.

Welcome aboard, goofball.

[Addendum: I forgot gee wiz. It seems to me a euphemism for the oath "Jesus!" along the lines of "gosh darn" or "son of a gun".]

This message has been edited. Last edited by: zmježd,

quote:

when miming the act of urination amongst folks prone to such acts.

Men and boys generally do it standing up; women and girls sit down; who does it prone?

who does it prone?

Invalids and the bedridden? Herodotus notes that Egyptian men urinate squatting while Egyptian women urinate standing up.

[Addendum: I see that some make a distinction between prone, lying face down, and suppine, lying face up. I didn't used to.]

This message has been edited. Last edited by: zmježd,

quote:

Invalids and the bedridden?

Very few...women would have a terribly hard time urinating (into a bedpan) in a prone position. For men it would be easy, though.

At any rate, invalids and the bedridden are generally in supine positions (on their backs) or on their sides. It is rare, though does occur in certain conditions, for patients to be prone.