Dufus Maximus --- the only reason Caesar didn't send him to Siberia was that Rome didn't know about Siberia

Most frequently, I have seen it spelled “doofus,” but I have also seen the word rendered “doofous,” “doofis” and “dufus.”

So what is the origin of this English word for someone who’s addled between the ears?

The first dictionary I consulted spelled it “doofus” and just gave a question mark about the word’s etymology. The next two concurred on the spelling, but asserted that the word probably derives from the Scottish Gaelic “doof,” which is what the highlanders would call a dolt.

Online, the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, had it as “doofus,” called it slang for “an incompetent, foolish or stupid person,” and suggested that it is “perhaps blend of doof, fool (from Scots) [and] goofus, fool (from goof).”

However, searching through linguists’ mailing lists we find a reference to one Ben Zimmer’s research, which suggests a boxing origin:

The Historical Dictionary of American Slang has 1966 as its first printed citation, 1960 as its first "remembered from Jonathan Lighter's childhood" citation. But Zimmer found the following usage from searching ProQuest Historical Newspapers; he speculates that by 1955 "doofus" might have been a generic name for a dimwitted boxer, similar to "Joe Palooka":

1955 John Lardner in NY Times 25 Dec.
"Doofus lost every round from the third, but they give him the duke!"
"Gratz had him on the floor in the fifth!"
"You shoulda seen it!"
"What kind of officiating is that!"
"Was you there? You was? Then let me tell you what happened!"

Then there is another, farther out, alternative explanation that has made its rounds of the Internet”

“Doofus was actually a handsome Greek god who threatened the position of Zeus by his popularity with the other gods due to his immeasurable intelligence, battle expertise, and flawless looks. It was for these reasons he was betrayed and was turned into the Bass-eatus Doofus Caninese.

”Which when translated into modern English is "Basset Hound".

“He was then forced to live out the rest of his days being spoon fed various choice cuts of beef, fish and chicken, going for walks , and being rubbed on his belly all the day long by the beautiful women in his master's harem.”

But get real! Even if those Greek gods could be famously promiscuous, that culture didn’t invent the harem, which came later. And just listen to the word --- it’s clearly Latin, rather than Greek, in origin.

As in the legendary bumbling Roman general, Dufus Maximus.

Back in those days, if you were leading a barbarian horde on a holiday of burning, looting and pillaging in the Roman provinces, you would be lucky indeed if the emperor sent Dufus Maximus to stop you.

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Sparky the Wonder Dog
Dufus Maximus?

fun

Dufus Maximus? Or is it “doofus?”