Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (US) a generic name for someone whose real name one does not know.

1902		Bulletin (Sydney) 9 Aug. 15/4: [T]he artist got mad, and used most undiplomatic expressions, including a remark to the effect that his Who’s-this needn’t bother to come there again. That shock put his lordship to bed for a week.
1914		T.A. Dorgan Indoor Sports 23 Sept. [synd. cartoon] I wantcha to meet Mr Hoosis from Galveston — an old school mate of mine.
1914		G. Herriman Dingbat Family 5 Feb. [synd. strip] Mrs Hoozus, you and me came in this room to discuss in private our social differences.
1918		D.G. Rowse Doughboy Dope 61: Whoosis’s famous dictum about non-commissioned officers being the back-bone of any army strikes you as reasonable.
1919		D. Runyon ‘A Tale of two Fists’ XIII in Pittsburgh Press (PA) 11 May 22/1: ‘I forgot to tell you about my fight with Joe Whozis’.
1920		A. Baer Putting ’Em Over 16 Sept. [synd. col.] I’ll not tell you his real name [...] Let’s call him Hoozis.
1930		J.P. McEvoy Hollywood Girl 126: Say, are you going over to Lily Whooziz tonight?
1932		R. Fisher Conjure-Man Dies 12: If that whosis says ‘Howdy’ tell it I said ‘Goo’by.’.
1934		L. Berg Prison Nurse (1964) 113: Dames are a pain in the whoosis.
1934		M. Fulcher ‘Believe Me’ in Afro-American (Baltimore, MD) 22 Sept. 12/4: The New York Whozits changed their name to the Gadabouts.
1938		H. Asbury Sucker’s Progress 183: He meets Mr. So-and-So the banker, Mr. What’s-His-Name the merchant, and Mr. Whozis the lawyer.
1938		W. Winchell On Broadway 5 Aug. [synd. col.] The frenzy to find a ‘second Will Rogers’ and a Second Whoosis.
1942		R. Chandler High Window 90: ‘Must take a good man to run them fast babies.’ ‘Don’t kid yourself, dad. All those cuties do is push buttons, say “Good morning, Mr Whoosis”, and look at their beauty spots in the car mirror.
1943		R.L. Bellem ‘Monster’s Malice’ Dan Turner – Hollywood Detective May 🌐 But what in the name of Whozis was he doing with a deceased pooch?
1947		S. Lewis Kingsblood Royal (2001) 43: I’ll chuck it and think about Biddy [...] not about Lord High Prince Whoozit.
1948		R.L. Bellem ‘Death Ends the Scene’ Hollywood Detective May 🌐 You mean Handsome Whozit with the golden tresses? Is he your brother?
1951		J.D. Salinger Catcher in the Rye (1958) 101: You look like a guy in the movies. You know. Whosis. You know how I mean. What the heck’s his name?
1962		J. Viertel To Love and Corrupt 286: You know poor ole whozis.
1976		N. Thornburg Cutter and Bone (2001) 198: A young executive type named Pruitt [...] How about that? Not Whozit but Pruitt.
1986		E. Weiner Howard the Duck 95: Excuse me, Ms Kozna-whosis.
2009		J. Stahl Pain Killers 43: He’s supposed to be whosis again?

2. used as euph. for Jesus.

1943		R.L. Bellem ‘Heads You lose’ in Dan Turner Hollywood Detective Feb. 🌐 The head [...] came to rest, face upward. I swear to Whozis it sneered at me.
1943		R.L. Bellem ‘Heads You lose’ in Dan Turner Hollywood Detective Feb. 🌐 Who in the name of Whozisis that?

3. (US) used as synon. for hell, the phr. (1)

1920

A. Baer Speeches of Fuller Durham 25 July [synd. col.] If you don’t like it, get the whoozus out.