zot

A sound effect. Popularized by the Usenet Oracle, a humorous Internet advice service, where the word was used as an irritated dismissal of a question.

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

zot (third-person singular simple present zots, present participle zotting, simple past and past participle zotted)

1. (slang, transitive) To zap, kill, or destroy.
   • 1980, Kit Reed, Magic time:

     I reached for the handle and it zotted me — an electric shock to the elbow.

   • 1997, Matt Lepinski, “Zotting”, in rec.humor.oracle.d (Usenet):

     I've heard rumors about the oracle zotting people and I have these questions about zot?

   • 1997, Terry Moore, “COPS PUT LIVES ON LINE?”, in austin.general (Usenet):

     When a taxi driver, convenience store clerk, pizza deliverer, etc., gets zotted, it is on the back page of the local newspaper and not in out of town newspapers at all.

   • 1998, RosieDawg, “watergardening and dogs and Rosie's new toy, OT-ish”, in rec.ponds (Usenet):

     electric fence - zotting me was fine (well really!) but they were worried about zotting the several dozen human puppies that hang around at our house.

Sound effect in the comic strip B.C., first published in 1958, associated with both (1) the rapid tongue of an anteater character and (2) lightning bolts.

zot (plural zots)

1. (US, slang) An anteater.

zot

1. (US) The characteristic sound made by an anteater's tongue or by lightning.

• Associated with the UC Irvine Anteaters.

zot (plural zots)

1. (South Africa, Zimbabwe, ethnic slur, offensive, derogatory) A black person.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:person of color

   • 2000 April 9, Squirrel, “SA Silence on Mugabe's actions”, in soc.culture.south-africa‎^[3] (Usenet):

     Regretfully there is nothing that can be done about things .. just a time bomb ticking, ticking, ticking .. until one day soon, the zots will decide to take a property here, and a property there (they have after all started with vacant land and been successful), so why not progress to property?

   • 2000 October 29, Nude Raider, “Here are the facts...”, in soc.culture.south-africa‎^[4] (Usenet):

     (SA) ¶ The government has TACITLY condoned the actions of the zots by allowing them to continue their illegal occupation.
     (Zimbabwe) ¶ The government condoned the illegal activities and progressed to the point where they were actively supporting it.

   • 2002 July 5, Alistair, “Re: Tobacco barn and other assets- disassembly instructions”, in soc.culture.zimbabwe‎^[5] (Usenet):

     The zots will destroy the barns, the homesteads, the tractors, everything - reducing them to their component parts without the aid of explosives.

• ozt, TŻO, TZO

• (Archaic) (religion) Zojzi
• (Tosk) zotë [zotə]

Uncertain. Multiple etymologies have been given:

• From a Proto-Albanian *w(i)tspáti, from Proto-Indo-European *wiḱpótis (“clan leader”), comparing Lithuanian viẽšpats, Avestan 𐬬𐬍𐬯𐬞𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬌 (vīspaⁱti)), compound of *weyḱ- (“clan, extended family”) and *pótis (“master”).

• From an old compound for "Sky father": Proto-Albanian *dźie̅u ̊ + *a(t)t-, from *dyew- (“sky”) +‎ *átta (“father”), compare Sanskrit द्यौष्पितृ (dyáuṣ-pitṛ́), Proto-Italic *djous patēr (whence Latin Iuppiter), Ancient Greek Ζεῦ πάτερ (Zeû páter).^[1] The radical zot contains the zero-grade radical of Proto-Indo-European *dyḗws.^[2] However, problems exist with the reconstructions as an unexpected -i- emerges in PA *dźie̅u ̊, and a long -ē- instead of an expected -a-. It would be better to reconstruct a PA *dᶻáu̯(h), from PPA *di̯áu̯h (*dyáwh). Also conflicting is a semantic change from "Sky Father" or "God Father" to "lord", going from the name of a chief god to the title of common men. Usually this is seen in the reverse, with God being given the title of lord. If this etymology were true, it would make Albanian unique in this.

• Most probably from Proto-Albanian *dᶻāti- < *di̯apti- < *dəi̯ápəti- < *dei̯i̯ā́(h) páti(h) < Proto-Indo-European *desi̯áh₂s pótis (“Master of the servants”).^[3] Related to Armenian տեր (ter, “owner”).

• IPA^(key): /zɔt/

zot m (plural zotër, definite zoti, definite plural zotërat)

1. master, headman
2. boss, head
3. (religion) Lord, God
4. sir, mister

• zotëri/zotëni/zotni
• zotësi
• zotëroj/zotnoj
• zotërisht
• zota

• Tosk: zonjë
• Gheg: zôjë

zot m (plural zotërínj, definite zoti, definite plural zotërinjtë)

1. landowner, owner of a wealthy estate
2. lord, head of a wealthy family with servants

• pronar

• Jungg, G. (1895), “ɛot”, in Fialuur i voghel sccȣp e ltinisct [Small Albanian–Italian dictionary], page 151
• “zot”, in FGJSH: Fjalor i gjuhës shqipe [Dictionary of the Albanian language] (in Albanian), 2006
• FGJSSH: Fjalor i gjuhës së sotme shqipe [Dictionary of the modern Albanian language]‎^[6], 1980
• Newmark, Leonard (1999), “zot”, in Oxford Albanian-English Dictionary‎^[7]

From Middle Dutch sot, a borrowing from Old French sot, from Medieval Latin sottus, of unknown origin. Possibly an expressive interjection, similar to modern French zut! (“damn it!”).^[1][2]

Compare Old English sott (“foolish, stupid”), English sot, modern French sot.

• IPA^(key): /zɔt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: zot
• Rhymes: -ɔt

zot (comparative zotter, superlative zotst) (today mostly restricted to Belgium and colloquial Southern Netherlands)

1. crazy, mad

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:gek

• Mainly Brabantian, less common in Hollandic.

• Afrikaans: sot
• Berbice Creole Dutch: soto
• Negerhollands: sot

zot m (plural zotten, diminutive zotje n) (today mostly restricted to Belgium and colloquial Southern Netherlands)

1. a fool

• Same as above.

• Afrikaans: sot

From French les autres (“the other guys”).

In French, the plural word autres is commonly preceded by a word, such as aux, les or mes, whose final s or x is not pronounced except in front of vowels, where it is pronounced /z/. As a result, autres was reanalyzed as having /z/ at the beginning.

zot

1. you, y'all (second-person plural personal pronoun)
2. they, them (third-person plural personal pronoun)

When usage might be ambiguous, zot is reserved for second-person plural and bann-la is used instead for third-person plural.