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nong

[nong]
noun Australian and New Zealand Informal.
  1. a foolish, incompetent person.
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Origin of nong

1940–45; probably by shortening of Australian and earlier British slang ning-nong, ning-nang fool, perhaps expressive variants of earlier nigmenog fool, of obscure origin
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for nong

Historical Examples

  • It is formed by ong or nong—frequent terminations in geographical names.

    Summary Narrative of an Exploratory Expedition to the Sources of the Mississippi River, in 1820

    Henry Rowe Schoolcraft

  • It was really not long before she understood much more than "wee and nong" when she was present at a business interview.

    T. Tembarom

    Frances Hodgson Burnett

British Dictionary definitions for nong

nong

noun
  1. Australian slang a stupid or incompetent person
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Word Origin

C19: perhaps alteration of obsolete English dialect nigmenog silly fellow, of unknown origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012