[PW] Fuzzy wuzzy - a lovely, warm emotion

[Russell Hamilton]

Hello W0mbats,

I used the descriptor fuzzy wuzzies today in a blog comment, and only
afterwards thought to check its political correct-ness. The standard
Australian dictionary - the Macquarie - says it's derogatory. The Oxford
just says it's slang. To me, hearing stories about 'fuzzy wuzzy angels' when
I was at school, it was always an affectionate term for Melanesians. But
maybe it's suffered the same fate as golliwogs.

What I want to ask w0mbats is: does anyone remember (in the 70's?) when
fuzzy wuzzy became a popular way to describe a nice warm, emotional state -
I can remember my little nieces asking "Give me a fuzzy wuzzy" which meant a
big hug - I always assumed this came from Sesame Street or some program they
watched. I can find people on the 'net using fuzzy wuzzy in this sense - but
I don't have any dictionary that describes this usage.

BTW what is it called when people take a word like fuzzy and then add a
similar sounding word like wuzzy as a kind of intensifier?

Regards,
Russell Hamilton
Perth, Western Australia