woof-oh, n. (slang, elision of "What for?")

A person who asks a lot of questions about some activity that another person is engaging in or preparing to engage in, i.e. an interested non-participant.

This is a popular non-derogatory term for spectators encountered at launch and landing areas by hang glider and paraglider pilots. The term derives from the fact that many of such spectator's questions are of the form "What's x for?" or "What do you do x for?", especially while the pilot is preparing his or her gear for flight. Also frequently shortened to "woof" or "woofs" (plural). Pilots generally strive to answer wuffos' questions pleasantly, because most pilots were once wuffos themselves. There is some usage of the term in the skydiving community as well.

Usage: "It got windier and all the other pilots were already airborne, but a couple of wuffos manned my wires as I walked my glider over to launch."

 

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