Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective UK, army, slang Finished; gone; non-existent.
  • adjective UK, army, slang Dead.
  • noun UK, army, slang The end; enough,
  • verb UK, army, slang To finish; to put an end to; to kill.
  • interjection UK, army, slang There is no more.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

World War I British and ANZAC army slang, probably a corruption of French “il n′y a plus” (“there is no more”).

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Examples

  • A hiki lakou i Kauai, ma ka napoo ana o ka la, a halawai me na kaikuahine.

    The Hawaiian Romance Of Laieikawai Martha Warren Beckwith 1915

  • The five hens were creatures of mediocrity, deserving no special mention -- all very well for laying eggs and similar domestic duties, but from an intellectual point of view simply napoo, as the polyglot stylists have it.

    Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 156, January 22, 1919 Various

  • Excited anticipation for your name as each parcel or letter is read out, dull disappointment if your issue is napoo.

    Norman Ten Hundred A Record of the 1st (Service) Bn. Royal Guernsey Light Infantry A. Stanley Blicq

  • Of course our first race was to buy cigarettes -- but, napoo!

    Private Peat Harold Reginald Peat 1926

  • As soon as anything arises that would really warrant a grouse -- napoo!

    Private Peat Harold Reginald Peat 1926

  • A pau ka ke Alii olelo ana no keia mau mea, hoomaka hou oia e hiamoe, aole nae i loaa ia ia ka hiamoe a hiki i ka napoo ana o ka la.

    The Hawaiian Romance Of Laieikawai Martha Warren Beckwith 1915

  • Mamua o ka napoo ana o ka la, kauohaia ka poe nana uli o ke Alii, a me na Kilokilo e nana i na ouli o ke ao a me ka moana, i na he hiki i ke

    The Hawaiian Romance Of Laieikawai Martha Warren Beckwith 1915

  • I ka napoo ana o ka la, hopu aku la o Aiwohikupua i kona aahu Ahuula, a haawi aku la i kahi kanaka, a pii aku la.

    The Hawaiian Romance Of Laieikawai Martha Warren Beckwith 1915

  • I ua ahiahi la, mamua o ka napoo ana o ka la, e noho ana ka Makaula ma ka puka o ka hale, nana aku la oia i ke kuku o na opua ma ka nana ana i na ouli o ke ao, a like me ka mea mau i ka poe kilokilo mai ka wa kahiko mai a hiki i keia manawa.

    The Hawaiian Romance Of Laieikawai Martha Warren Beckwith 1915

  • "We thought we was napoo [1] when we 'eard that little bundle of fun a-coming."

    No Man's Land 1912

Comments

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  • A term for crazy apparently borrowed and corrupted into English from the French phrase "il n'y en a plus", "there is no more". By extension, from "gone" to "dead".

    November 21, 2010

  • My allergies make much taboo -

    No peanut nor even cashew.

    My diet from hell

    Bans fish in a shell

    And gluten of course is napoo.

    January 11, 2016

  • cf. napoo finny (il n'y en a plus - finis)

    January 12, 2016

  • Reminds me of the distinction in Pidgin between:

    I killim yu - I hit you

    and

    I killim yu ded - I kill you

    January 12, 2016

  • How do you say "I hit/kill him"?

    January 14, 2016

  • With your lawyer present.

    January 15, 2016

  • badumpsh

    January 15, 2016