Phizogs

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person's face, typically used in a somewhat humorous or dismissive context
2. an informal term for facial features or expressions, often emphasizing their peculiarities
3. a colloquial expression referring to the visage or countenance of an individual, often in a light-hearted manner

Etymology: "Phizogs" is the plural of "phizog," a slang term for a face. The singular comes from "physiognomy," the old art of reading character from facial features, which passed into English from Greek "physiognōmonia," combining "physis" (nature) and "gnōmōn" (judge or interpreter). Over time the long, learned word was clipped down to its first syllables, and the shortened form "phiz" emerged as a casual word for the face itself. The "-og" ending is a familiar slang suffix, the same kind that turned "mob" into "mobbing" and other clipped words into jaunty nicknames. Adding it to "phiz" gave "phizog," a word that sounds deliberately comic next to the dignified scholarly term it descends from.

Synonyms: faces, visages, countenances