hoser

Meaning

Noun

• One who operates a hose, e.g. a fire hose or a garden hose.
• One that hoses, i.e. hurts (someone) badly.
• A person (especially a farmer) who siphons gasoline out of a vehicle or piece of equipment.
• A person who hoses down a lake after a game of hockey, to return it to a smooth state.
• A clumsy, boorish person, especially an over-eating, beer-drinking man, or a man prone to petty infractions such as taking other people's food or drinks.
• A Canadian.

Origin

• hose + -er. The Canadian senses originally derive from hose, in reference to farmers who siphoned gas from farming vehicles; they were later reinforced by use to describe the players on the losing side of a game of shinny or hockey, who were required to hose down the rink to return it to a smooth state, and ultimately popularized in the 1980s by a sketch on the television show Second City Television, in which Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas played Bob and Doug McKenzie, who used the term as an insult for each other.