Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Kazoo

Definition: Kazoo

Kazoo

Noun

1. A toy wind instrument that has a membrane that makes a sound when you hum into the mouthpiece.

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Note: Kazoo \Ka*zoo"\, noun. [Etymology uncertain.]. (Websters 1913)


Specialty Definitions: Kazoo

DomainDefinitions

Fine Arts

A device into which a person sings or hums and which consists usu. of an open-ended tube with a membrane-covered hole. . WEBIN 66 2-. . Source: European Union. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Specialty Definition: Kazoo

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

The kazoo, a simple musical instrument (membranophone) that adds tonal qualities when the player hums into it, was invented in the 19th century in Macon, Georgia by an African American named Alabama Vest, who based it on an African device called the mirliton which was used to disguise the priest's voice in ceremonies. The first kazoo was manufactured to Vest's specifications by Thaddeus von Clegg, a German clockmaker in Macon. The kazoo was first publicized at the Georgia State Fair in 1852.

The first metal kazoos were manufactured and patented in Eden, New York, where they are still made in the original factory. A temporary kazoo can be made by combining comb and tissue paper or wax paper.

The kazoo is played professionally in jug bands and comedy music, and by amateurs everywhere. It is one of the few acoustic instruments to be developed in the United States and one of the easiest melodic instruments to play well, requiring only the ability to hum in tune.

In the Original Dixieland Jass Band 1921 recording of "Crazy Blues", what the casual listener might mistake for a trombone solo is actually a kazoo solo by drummer Tony Sbarbaro. The Mound City Blue Blowers had a number of hit kazoo records in the early 1920s. The Mound City Blue Blowers featured Dick Slevin on metal kazoo and Red McKenzie on comb and tissue paper kazoo.

The kazoo is not often found in classical music, a rare exception being David Bedford's With 100 Kazoos, a piece which emphasises the simplicity of the instrument - rather than being played by trained musicians, kazoos are handed out to members of the audience, who accompany a professional instrumental ensemble.

External Links

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Kazoo."

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Crosswords: Kazoo

Specialty definitions using "kazoo": SINGING MESSENGER. (references)

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Modern Usage: Kazoo

DomainUsage

Lyrics

Willy goes into a dance and doubles on kazoo. (DOWN ON THE CORNER; performing artist: Creedence Clearwater Revival)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Commercial Usage: Kazoo

DomainTitle

Books

  • How to Kazoo (Shrink-Wrapped With Kazoo) (reference)

  • Kazoo Kicker (Fables from the Letter People) (reference)

  • Little Boy Blue and the Panda's Kazoo (reference)

    (more book examples)

  

Music

  

High Tech

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Image Slideshow: Kazoo

Illustrations:
Kazoo

More pictures...

Computer Images:
Kazoo

More pictures...

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Use in Literature: Kazoo

TitleAuthorQuote

Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions

Neil Gaiman

Benjamin Lassiter was coming to the unavoidable conclusion that the woman who had written A Walking Tour of the British Coastline, the book he was carrying in his backpack, had never been on a walking tour of any kind, and would probably not recognize the British coastline if it were to dance through her bedroom at the head of a marching band, singing 'I'm the British Coastline' in a loud and cheerful voice while accompanying itself on the kazoo.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Usage Frequency: Kazoo

"Kazoo" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Kazoo" is used about 3 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)
Parts of SpeechPercentUsage per
100 Million Words
Rank in English
Noun (singular)100%3202,518

Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

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Frequency of Internet Keywords: Kazoo

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.
 
ExpressionFrequency
per Day
ExpressionFrequency
per Day

kazoo

915

the great kazoo

5

rca kazoo

63

kazoo software

5

kazoo music

42

blue kazoo

4

download kazoo

26

kazoo instrument

4

kazoo mp3 player

19

free kazoo music

4

downloads kazoo

15

driver kazoo usb

4

kazoo mp3

15

kazoo mp3 rca

3

driver kazoo

14

katie kazoo

3

driver kazoo rca

11

kazoo school

3

kazoo light

10

driver kazoo xp

3

flintstone kazoo

10

kazoo solo

3

download kazoo music

10

kazoo play

3

kazoo studio

9

3d kazoo

3

kazoo lite

9

flintstone great kazoo

3

downloads kazoo music

8

kazoo rca rd1000

2

rca kazoo mp3 player

8

kazoo song

2

kazoo player

7

download free kazoo

2

blue kazoo the north face

7

inc kazoo

2

camp kazoo

6

kazoo toy

2

kazoo rca software

6

company kazoo

2

downloads free kazoo

2
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Modern Translations: Kazoo

Language Translations for "kazoo"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.

Chinese 

  

小笛. (various references)

   

French

  

mirliton. (various references)

   

Hungarian

  

segg (arse, ass, butt, Fanny, prat, pratt, tail). (various references)

   

Pig Latin

  

azookay

   

Russian 

  

казу, духовой музыкальный инструмент. (various references)

   

Thai

  

เครื่องเล่นชนิ"หนึ่งที่ทำให้เกิ"เสียงหึ่งๆ. (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

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Derivations & Misspellings: Kazoo

Derivations

Words beginning with "kazoo": kazoos. (additional references)


Misspellings

"Kazoo" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Aksoy, Aksu, Akuoko, azoo, cazoo, cazzo, Gazoro, jazo, Kaasdoop, Kaboo, Kabooz, Kabou, Kacou, Kaeo, kagool, Kaisho, Kaizo, kajoyo, Kakoo, Kalou, Kanzo, Kanzou, kao, kasanof, Kasio, Kasiopi, kasok, Kasos, Kasuso, kaxo, kaz, Kazakov, kazam, Kazeem, Kazie, kazo, kazoom, kazu, Kazuma, Kazunobu, keso, ketziot, kezo, Khaskovo, kiaou, kizoo, Kizu, Knazno, Kossovo, Kusu, kuzu, razoo, Wazoua, Zakob. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

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Anagrams: Kazoo

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

Words within the letters "a-k-o-o-z"

-2 letters: azo, koa, oak, oka, zoa, zoo.

-3 letters: ka.

 Words containing the letters "a-k-o-o-z"
 

+1 letter: kazoos.

 

+2 letters: bazooka.

 

+3 letters: bazookas, gadzooks, yokozuna.

 

+4 letters: bouzoukia, yokozunas.

 

+5 letters: gadzookery.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.

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Alternative Orthography: Kazoo


Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)

4B 61 7A 6F 6F

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)

American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)

=

Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)

Braille (1829, in France) (references)

Morse Code (1836) (references)

-.-    .-    --..    ---    ---

Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)

Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)

01001011 01100001 01111010 01101111 01101111

HTML Code (1990) (references)

&#75 &#97 &#122 &#111 &#111

ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)

004B 0061 007A 006F 006F

British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)

Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)

4567928181

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INDEX

1. Definition
2. Crosswords
3. Usage: Modern
4. Usage: Commercial
5. Images: Slideshow
6. Quotations: Fiction
7. Usage Frequency
8. Expressions: Internet
9. Translations: Modern
10. Derivations
11. Anagrams
12. Orthography
13. Bibliography


  

Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

 

 

 

 

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Franse taal, Frans, franceze, francez, frëngjisht, frëng, frëngjishte, ‏فرنسي, ‏اللغة الفرنسية, ‏الشعب الفرنسي, gall, френски език, френски, Pranses, 法國 , 法文 , 法語 , 法语, francouzština, francouzský, franskur, franskt, ranskalainen, français, Frânsk, französisch, γάλλοσ, γαλλικόσ, γαλλική γλώσσα, γαλλίδα, צרפתי, צרפתית, francia, Fraincis, francese, フレコン化 , フランス" , 仏文 , 仏 , ふつぶ", フレンチ , フランセ , ふつ, "랑스, Perancis, Ny Frangee, Mooinjey ny Frank, frances, franses, francês, francezii, francezã, franţuzesc, franţuzeşte, французский, Falani, francuski jezik, francuski, francuzi, francés, sí-Fulentji, fransk, franska, fransızca, Fransiz, fransızca ile ilgili, fransız, fransa ile ilgili, французька мова, французький, Ffrengig, isiFulentshi, for French;
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