A new word for you all - Woozle
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (325696)
Rockingham, Australia
February 9, 2018 6:24pm CST
I clicked on an interesting post by April (@thislittlepennyearns) about the death of Naomi Parker Fraley who died recently. Here’s a link:
She was the original inspiration for the ‘We Can Do It! poster from World War II showing a woman with her sleeves rolled up and wearing dungarees and a polka-dotted kerchief over her hair.
For years, a Michigan woman, Geraldine Hoff Doyle was thought to be the model for the poster but it turns out this was not so. However what I came across a word I hadn’t heard before.
When something is repeated over and over, and referenced as true (but without evidence), ti becomes accepted as fact. This is called the Woozle effect, also known as ‘evidence by citation’.
Isn’t Woozle a great word? I might call my next pet sheep Woozle. And that gives me an excuse to use Hercules in a photo. Here he is with a couch-surfer. He was a sucker for a pretty face. And do you know of any woozles?
Now some of you 'older' lotters might be surprised that I even know who Rose the Riveter is, because a lot of people my age don't. But I am well aware of who...
19 people like this
20 responses
@xFiacre (12594)
• Ireland
10 Feb 18
@judyev If you tell yourself something often enough it does tend to become fact in your brain. My brother is an inveterate teller of untruths but he repeats them so often and with such conviction that he ends up believing his own lies. He's a real woozler.
3 people like this
@JudyEv (325696)
• Rockingham, Australia
10 Feb 18
One of the new-age therapies was/is 'self-talk' so you tell yourself over and over something you want to believe and eventually your brain takes it on board. That's the basic theory anyway.
People often believe some of Vince's more outlandish tales because he says them with so much conviction. I only fell for it once. 
2 people like this
@indexer (4852)
• Leicester, England
10 Feb 18
@JudyEv I write short stories like that - the aim being to challenge the reader into spotting where the facts have ended and imagination taken over! However, I always make it crystal clear that it is a story and not to be taken literally - unfortunately, there are too many people around who can't distinguish one from the other.
2 people like this
@Orson_Kart (6108)
• United Kingdom
10 Feb 18
Being a Winnie the Pooh fan, woozle is a very well known word to me. There's even a song about them. Woozle is Pooh bears name for a weasel, and heffalump is an elephant. Have a listen.
2 people like this
@Orson_Kart (6108)
• United Kingdom
10 Feb 18
heffalump and woozle song part of the movie
2 people like this
@JudyEv (325696)
• Rockingham, Australia
10 Feb 18
@Orson_Kart Cute song! So woozle isn't a new word at all. You've spoilt my day. I thought I was telling everyone something new! 
2 people like this
@Letranknight2015 (51511)
• Philippines
10 Feb 18
So, this is what inspire those sentences I've heard a while back during Obama campaign.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118433)
• Gainesville, Florida
10 Feb 18
I sometimes feel woozle after a night of heavy drinking! Oh wait, that's woozy, not woozle! lol
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118433)
• Gainesville, Florida
10 Feb 18
@JudyEv I am actually very woozy at the moment, but not from drinking. I've finally caught the flu that has been ravishing our nation.
2 people like this
@JudyEv (325696)
• Rockingham, Australia
10 Feb 18
@moffittjc I hear it's a really bad flu. I hope you won't try to be macho and 'soldier on' when you should perhaps be resting and taking care of yourself. I hope it is only a light dose.
2 people like this
@allen0187 (58444)
• Philippines
11 Feb 18
I bet 'woozle' is a favorite word of fake news peddlers.
1 person likes this
@allknowing (130066)
• India
10 Feb 18
Herc surely knew who to warm up to!!
Your woozle took me to 'Pop goes the weasel'
And incidentally there is a red line under Woozle (lol)
And incidentally there is a red line under Woozle (lol)1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43421)
• Denver, Colorado
12 Feb 18
I heard about Rosie's passing the other day. That's definitely a neat word!
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325696)
• Rockingham, Australia
10 Feb 18
I can't imagine how anyone came up with such a term.
@BelleStarr (61047)
• United States
10 Feb 18
History is full of woozles like Shakespeare giving Richard III a hunch back, just a case of scoliosis no hunch at all.
1 person likes this
@indexer (4852)
• Leicester, England
10 Feb 18
I think you'll find that the word woozle was invented by AA Milne in his Winnie the Pooh adventures. Winnie and his friends go on a woozle hunt in a chapter called "Where the Woozle Wasn't", but of course they never find one.
As you say, they believe that woozles exist, but the evidence for that belief is very shaky!
(This is a correction to my earlier response, because I suddenly remembered that I had heard the word before after all!)
1 person likes this
@JohnRoberts (109857)
• Los Angeles, California
10 Feb 18
Woozlle does sound like Aussie lingo. Herc was a lady killer!
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325696)
• Rockingham, Australia
10 Feb 18
A Woozle is a false fact that is repeated so often that it gets to be believed.
