razz, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

razz n.

also razzoo

1. (US) a scolding, a telling-off; constr. with the, mocking insults, rude noises.

1905		Sth Bourke & Mornington Jrnl (Richmond, Vic.) 3 May 22/7: With the exception of an occasional ‘razoo’ by the boys the Celestial and his better half go on well enough.
1919		Wash. Times (DC) 7 July 16/1: A fresh cake-eater [...] tried to tell Monahan this and got an awful raz.
1921		N. Putnam West Broadway 72: I says. ‘Come in, Tom, and get the razoo over with!’ And razoo was right. When Jim was wised up to the facts he hit the ceiling.
1922		Morn. Tulsa Daily World (OK) 18 Sept. 3/2: As for the elephants which cannot perform — well, one should see Kas and company slip them the scornful razz.
1926		H.O. Osgood ‘Jazz’ in AS I:10 513: Razz is plainly a rowdy, low-caste word of no standing.
1940		Phila. Eve. Bulletin 15 July n.p.: ‘Bronx Cheer’ is one of several names given to discordant noises made by sports fans or occupants of theater galleries. In baseball slang, its technique is similar to the ‘Brooklyn razzoo,’ requiring considerable facial distortion.
1955		B. Appel Tough Guy [ebook] Christ, that’s all he needed—the old razz about jewboys falling for jewgirls.
1983		G. Tate ‘Ramm-El-Zee vs. K-Rob’ in Flyboy in the Buttermilk (1992) 93: When this two-man razz turns schizzy it gets real scary.

2. (US Und.) the sales pitch used by a financial swindler.

1935

Sun (N.Y.) 19 Feb. 28/2: The ‘razz’ is the selling talk.

3. see razzle n.

In phrases

all that razz (n.)

(orig. US) that sort of thing, usu. following a list of proper nouns ... and all that razz.

2001

N. Barlay Hooky Gear 80: New leaf and all that razz.

big razoo (n.)

a gesture of extreme contempt or scorn.

1917		Gippsland Times (Vic.) 1 Oct. 4/1: Good-bye Mo, you’re through / [...] / The big razzoo for you.
1939		R. Chandler ‘Pearls Are a Nuisance’ in Spanish Blood (1946) 128: They are sitting back there beside their plush-lined spittoons giving you the big razzoo.
1953		R. Chandler Long Good-Bye 294: ‘A two-bit peeper,’ Menendez said slowly, ‘figures he can make a monkey out of Mendy Menendez. He can get me laughed at. He can get me the big razzoo – me, Menendez.’.

get the (grand) razz (v.) (also get the razzle-dazzle, ...the razoo)

1. to suffer insults, catcalls.

1889		Eve. World (NY) 1 Mar. 1/1: People get the razoo or razzle-dazzle when they have been having too good a time.
1890		Eve. Bull. (Maysville, KY) 4 Sept. 1/3: [dealine] Editors Get the Razoo.
1904		Eve. World (NY) 30 Dec. 14/7: New York wouldn’t be much surprised to see an eminent lawyer get the razoo any minute.
1908		H. Green Maison De Shine 208: Hully chee! Can’t a man take a flat o’ beer wit’out gittin’ the razoo?
1920		S. Lewis Main Street (1921) 282: Well, the Red Swede got the grand razz handed to him all right.
1922		S. Lewis Babbitt (1974) 96: If I crack anything that’s just the least bit off colour I get the razz for fair!
1949		R. Chandler Little Sister 174: I came up here to get co-operation [...] The big razzoo I can get at home.
1953		J. Thompson Criminal (1993) 46: Laughing at me because I was getting the razz.

2. to be dismissed, thrown out.

1918

Eve. World (NY) 28 Oct. 12/2: The candidate who is benzined doesn’t always get the grand razz out of the school [...] the only man who gets busted is the shirker.

give someone the razz (v.) (also ...the grand razoo, ...the grand razz)

of an individual, to tease, to abuse; of an inanimate object, to make mock, to deride.

1912		Day Book (Chicago) 11 May 5/1: The Giants certainly showed contempt for the Cubs yesterday afternoon. They ought to be jailed, fined, and given the grand razzoo.
1915		T.A. Dorgan Indoor Sports 15 June [synd. cartoon] Giving the New Office Boy the Old Razoo. ‘Go up stairs and get me a paper-stretcher’ ‘He might fetch that left-handed coffee cup too while he’s a bout’ .
1916		T.A. Dorgan in Zwilling TAD Lex. (1993) 68: Giving the ‘raz’ to the efficiency expert who is giving the books the o.o.
1918		Eve. World (NY) 14 June 16/3: Meriden [...] is going to give the potato Bugsheviki the grand razz.
1921		N.Y. Tribune 26 June 10/5: The crowd [...] begins to boo and give him the razz.
1930		‘Leslie Charteris’ Enter the Saint 94: ‘Uncle Sebastian still gave him the razz?’ ‘Betty says he fused the telephone wires.’.
1934		J.M. Cain Postman Always Rings Twice (1985) 126: He was giving me the razz, because he had a perfect case.
1936		A.E. Duckett ‘Truckin ’round Brooklyn’ in N.Y. Age 6 June 6/7: The only symphony / To give life the razz / Is the living symphony / Of jazz.
1947		B. Stiles Serenade to the Big Bird 88: We gave each other a steady razz about the dames.
1951		D.P. Mannix Sword-Swallower 65: Around cities there are usually some young sports who’ll give you the razz.
1958		T. Capote Breakfast at Tiffany’s 89: The mockery of it! But it’s all that’s ahead for us, my friend: this comedienne waiting to give you the old razz.
1991		B. Hamper Rivethead (1992) 34: The workers paused to give us the razz. We were fresh blood, ignorant meat. ‘Turn around before it’s too late,’ someone shouted.