The word “goon” is frequently used to describe thugs and strongarm guys. Does anybody know whe the word first appeared? is it still in common usage?
From the Online Etymology Dictionary:
goon
1921, “stupid person,” from gony “simpleton” (c.1580), of unknown origin, but applied by sailors to the albatross and similar big, clumsy birds (1839); sense of “hired thug” first recorded 1938 (in ref. to union “beef squads” used to cow strikers in the Pacific northwest), probably from Alice the Goon, slow-witted and muscular (but gentle-natured) character in “Thimble Theater” comic strip (starring Popeye) by E.C. Segar (1894-1938). She also was the inspiration for British comedian Spike Milligan’s “The Goon Show.” What are now “juvenile delinquents” were in the 1940s sometimes called goonlets.
yes, it is still used quite a bit on the internet in reference to members of somethingawful.com