oojah

plural oojahs · alternative hoojah · alternative ooja · alternative oojar

1. slangSomething whose name is unknown or unimportant; a thingy; a whatsit.

   Oh, look! your bag's opened itself wide and all the little oojahs have gone down the steps.

   1935, Dorothy L. Sayers, Gaudy Night

   4 more examples

   Expect I shall get a raspberry from the old Oojah if I arrive (with the milk) blotto. Never mind, I have not had a backshee binge for years!

   1919, P.H.M., “Our Translation Prize”, in The Educational Times, page 470

   DAPHNE. I say, old bean, where’s the oojah? MARK. The oojah? DAPHNE: The om-tiddly-om-pom.

   1951, Terence Rattigan, “Who is Sylvia?”, in The collected plays of Terence Rattigan, published 1953, page 211

   CUT-THE-RASHER: Aye, indeed – Mary Doyle’s missing her bit of comfort. MRS DOYLE: G’long you dirty-minded ould hoojah. That’s one thing anyway: we won’t have to be putting up with you once we leave the lane.

   1951, Maura Laverty, “Liffey Lane”, in Cathy Leeney, Deirdre McFeely, editors, The Plays of Maura Laverty, published 2023, page 90

   I’ve seen blokes in hot countries go clean round the oojar because of the perverted practices of native women.

   1971, Brian Aldiss, A Soldier Erect, page 94