Eggcorn Forum

I’ve never heard ogle pronounced ‘oogle’ but have often heard it sounded as ‘oggle.’ Oggling has 827unique hits to oogling’s 788. I’ve always assumed some relationship between oggling and goggling, so perhaps there may be another between oogling and googling; when goggling we stare with wide open eyes, and when googling we, well, we look at or for something or someone…

Peter,

I’ve never heard ogle pronounced ‘oogle’ but have often heard it sounded as ‘oggle.’

It’s interesting what we hear in different regions or parts of the world. I’ve never heard ‘oggle’ in the Midwest States. I see your connection between goggling and ogling, but I honestly feel it’s more a phonetic interpretation; the imagery doesn’t quite work for me. Goggle suggests bulging eyes; a state of disbelief, while ogle suggests a more subtle flirtation or admiration.

I thought there too might be the influence of Google simply because it is so ubiquitous a tool that it may have infiltrated the language beyond merely becoming a verb. However, I agree that ‘oogle’ has been heard before the arrival of Google in our every day lives.

A friend of mine thought ‘oogle’ street slang suggesting a more robust quality that bordered on leering. After a peek at the Urban Dictionary, I found that ‘oogle’ is slang for a poser or wannabe; it’s strictly a noun. ‘Oogling’, on the other hand, does appear as a separate entry in the Urban Dictionary with the meaning of ‘ogling’. “Oogling her goodies” is used as an example bearing out that people do indeed intend ‘ogle’. ‘Oggle’ makes an appearance too and suggests lust or “learing” [sic] (can we make any Shakespearean connections?). Perhaps people do then use these words interchangeably for ‘ogle’ with ‘oogle’ being closest to the original word meaning and ‘oggle’ being a close cousin with a more overtly sexual connotation? Any other thoughts?

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=oogling

Side note: apologies for the boldface weirdness; I wasn’t aware that the asterisk serves as a text editing cue.

Yes, “google(y) eyes” is a much better (i.e. more likely) source for “oogle” than the search engine “Google”. And I definitely remember it being used for eyes peering at what they should not (peeping Tom eyes), besides for eyes that physically pop out from the face, or eyes that express a state of love-smittenness. The first and last of those fit very well with oogling in most contexts.

For “googol” see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Googol. I don’t think it was uncommon to spell it “google”, though it may be less so since Google.

I asked my wife what “google eyes” meant to her, and she (not a computer geek) immediately said “check it out on Google”, i.e. Google-ize. But when I clarified that I was talking about referring to someone’s google-eyes, she said it was a come-hither look, a give-you-the-once-over look (but offering to connect, not check-you-out and move on). For her it was definitely connected to oogle/ogle/oggle (about whose pronunciation she is not consistent.)

Last edited by DavidTuggy (2008-06-24 18:39:13)

Good heavens! Am I really the only person on the forum for whom “googly eyes” is actively part of their lexicon? I was a bit worried when it sounded like all of you considered it an outlandish or “historical” usage—but relieved when I got over 8000 raw hits for “making googly eyes.”

I guess it can refer to a come-hither look given by someone who’s just spotted someone else, but it certainly doesn’t have to. It can also mean something like “giving each other (stupidly) amorous looks,” and the people in question can already be entangled with each other romantically. I often think of two young people who’ve just fallen in love recently as making googly eyes at each other. And children accuse parents of making googly eyes at each other. I think there’s often an element of goofiness or silliness implied—at least in the non-googly eyes of onlookers.

After writing all the above, I realized I should check the OED. The second definition is the one relevant here:

1. Of eyes: large, round, and staring. Hence googly-eyed a.
1901 ‘H. MCHUGH’ Down Line 35 Is id to my face you go behind my back to make googley-googley eyes.
1926 Spectator 21 Aug. 287/2 A golliwog hugging in its hideous embrace a googley-eyed Dutch doll. 1927 Daily Mirror 10 Dec. 16/1 Others with movable googly eyes in a hand-painted face.
1928 Daily Express 20 June 13/6 Strange, googly-eyed goldfish.
1959 I. & P. OPIE Lore & Lang. Schoolch. xiii. 298 No more beetles in my tea Making googly eyes at me.

2. Disposed to love-making, ‘spoony’.
1929 W. DEEPING Roper’s Row x. §3. 107 She ascribed Mr. George’s googly, amorous interest to fatherliness.
1932 C. WILLIAMS Greater Trumps v. 85 And father would say, ‘Really, Sybil!’ without being googly.

The OED thinks the phrase may be derived from “goo-goo eyes,” and here’s that entry:

Of the eyes or glances: amorous, ‘spoony’. Also n., an amorous glance, a ‘glad eye’.
1900 GODFREY & HILBURY He used to play on the Oboe, She’d make goo-goo eyes at the bandsmen above.
1901 ‘H. MCHUGH’ John Henry 13 ‘It is awfully nice of you to ask me to see Bernhardt,’ says The Real Thing, throwing a goo-goo at me that settles everything. Ibid. 76 He’ll turn such a warm pair of goo-goo eyes on her that somebody will have to..yell for the fire department.
1906 N. MUNRO Daft Days ix, They made goo-goo-eyes at me when I said the least thing.
1906 Westm. Gaz. 22 Sept. 5/2, I don’t go round making goo-goo eyes for roses, anyway.
1924 C. HAMILTON Prisoners of Hope 101 The women..fling a goo-goo at the band.
1959 J. THURBER Years with Ross ix. 158 There was so much spooning and goo-goo eyes.

The OED says that some think “goo-goo eyes” is related to “goggle.”

Before anyone asks, let me just say that “spoony” is not part of my active lexicon. The relevant definition seems to be 2a in the OED:

2. a. Sentimentally or foolishly amorous.
1836 MARRYAT Midsh. Easy xxii, I never was in love my~self, but I’ve seen many others spooney.
1859 LEVER D. Dunn lxvi, The man who is not actually in love with you, but only ‘spooney’.
1882 B. M. CROKER Proper Pride I. iii. 52 They are not a bit a spooney couple; at least I never see any billing or cooing.

“Sentimentally or foolishly amorous” is a pretty good definition for “googly” as I’ve heard it used.