Happy 50th birthday to... these words

Some words turning (at least) 50 in 2018. A trip back in time to the late 1960s. Trudeaumania and uppers. Reggae, rip-offs, and rumpy-pumpy.  Some of these are older than you probably think, and some younger.

 As with all words, they may well have existed a little earlier than the OED could find earliest evidence for them.

aerobics, n.

Etymology: < aerobic adj.: see -ic suffix 2.

orig. U.S.

 

  With sing. or pl. concord. Physical exercise, typically of relatively low intensity and long duration, that increases the body's oxygen consumption in a sustainable manner and is aimed at improving cardiovascular fitness; any method of training involving such exercise, esp. vigorous callisthenics performed to music.

1968   K. H. Cooper Aerobics iii. 40   After five hours of that [sc. golf] you've walked well past the point where anaerobics leave off and aerobics begin.

alarmed, adj.²

Etymology: < alarm n. + -ed suffix². Compare later alarm v. 8.

  Fitted or protected with an alarm or alarms, esp. a burglar alarm. Chiefly in predicative use.

1968   N.Y. Mag. 14 Oct. 46   Door is Alarmed.

cellulite, n.

Etymology: < French cellulite (1949 or earlier in this sense), transferred use (now only in non-technical language) of cellulite inflammation of cellular connective tissue (1833 or earlier) < cellule cellule n. + -ite -itis suffix. The fat deposits were so called because they were at one time supposed to be caused by inflammation of cellular connective tissue. Compare earlier cellulitis n.

Compare earlier occurrence of the French word in an English context:

1955   C. I. Gavin Liberated France i. 51   Women were plagued by a complaint shown by a puffy softness under the skin and called la cellulite, for which those who could afford it would undergo spa treatment.

  Deposits of subcutaneous fat causing dimpling of the overlying skin.Cellulite is often seen in the thighs of women, and various cosmetic treatments have been devised for its removal or dispersal.

1968   Vogue (U.S. ed.) 15 Apr. 110/2   In Europe treatments for cellulite vary from acupuncture..to sea baths.

cutesy, adj.

Etymology: < cute adj. + -sy suffix².

colloq. (orig. and chiefly N. Amer.).

  Affectedly cute and clever, twee. Also with fanciful extension,   ˈcutesy-poo adj.

1968   N.Y. Times Bk. Rev. 25 Feb. 10   Start with the cutesie title. Pursue the mysteriously jumbled chronology.

Nasdaq, n.

Etymology: Acronym < the initial letters of National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations.

Stock Market.

  In the United States: a computerized system supplying price quotations for over-the-counter securities trading, introduced in 1971. Also: the price index or stock market created by this system. Frequently attrib. in Nasdaq index. Cf. NASD n. at N n. Initialisms 1.

1968   Commerc. Financial Chron. 23 May ii. 13/3   The NASDAQ system will eliminate the necessity of separate requests for market makers quotations.

noogie, n.

Etymology: Origin unknown. Popularized by the U.S. television show Saturday Night Live in the late 1970s.

Chiefly U.S. School slang and College slang.

  In sing. and pl. A hard poke or grind with the knuckles, esp. on a person's head (see also quot. 1986). Frequently in to give a person noogies.J. E. Lighter Hist. Dict. Amer. Slang cites a New York University student in 1972 as saying that a ‘noogie is a kind of a punch or a jab you give someone with your third and middle finger. You do it on the forehead or on the shoulder.’

1968   I. Horovitz Indian wants Bronx 11   Now I'll give you twenty noogies, so we'll be even. (He raps Joey on the R. arm.)

out-of-body, adj.

Etymology: < out of prep. + body n. Compare earlier out-of-the-body adj. at out of prep. Compounds 1.

  Characterized by the sensation that one's consciousness is located outside one's body. Chiefly in out-of-body experience.

1968   S. Smith (title)    Out-of-body experiences for the millions.

Parti Québécois, n.

Etymology: < French Parti Québécois (1968: see quot. 1968²) < parti party n. + québécois , québecois Québécois adj.

Canad.

  A French-Canadian political party which advocates independence or greater autonomy for the province of Quebec.

1968   Winnipeg Free Press 15 Oct. 42/3   The province's new political party, Le Parti Quebecois, is an embryonic coalition rallied around Rene Levesque and his idea of a ‘sovereign Quebec’.

perp, n.²

Etymology: Shortened < perpetrator n.

U.S. slang.

  The perpetrator of a crime.

1968   D. L. Pike Police Rep. 2 May in I. E. Robinson et al. Cases in Crisis (1972) xxxviii. 240   Perp was at back door of Apt 2 when he was shot in right thigh by victim.

power trip, n.

Etymology: < power n.¹ + trip n.¹ Compare guilt trip n., ego-trip n. at ego n. Compounds 2.

colloq.

  An activity which confers a sense of power and authority on the person or people involved; the feeling of excitement or empowerment resulting from this. Cf. trip n.¹ 5c.

1968   Newsweek 8 Jan. 27/1   ‘He's an egocentric guy,’ says one acquaintance. ‘He's on a constant power trip.’

pulsar, n.

Etymology: < puls- (in pulsating adj.) + -ar (in star n.¹), after quasar n.; compare -ar suffix⁴ (see quot. 1968 at sense 1). Compare pulsator n. 4.

 1. Astron. A celestial object which emits regular and rapid pulses of radiation, typically at radio frequencies but sometimes at X-ray or gamma frequencies, and is now recognized as a rapidly rotating neutron star.In quot. 1973 fig.

1968   A. Michaelis in Daily Tel. 5 Mar. 21/3   An entirely novel kind of star..came to light on Aug. 6 last year and..was referred to by astronomers as LGM (Little Green Men). Now..it is thought to be a novel type between a white dwarf and a neutron [sic]. The name Pulsar (Pulsating Star) is likely to be given to it... Dr. A. Hewish..told me yesterday: ‘..I am sure that today every radio telescope is looking at the Pulsars.’

reggae, n.

Etymology: Origin unknown. Perhaps related to Jamaican English rege-rege in the sense ‘rags, ragged clothing’ (see F. G. Cassidy & R. B. Le Page Dict. Jamaican Eng. (1967) 380/1, and compare note below); a connection with this word in its other sense ‘quarrel, row’ is perhaps also possible. Compare also ragga n., ragamuffin n. 4. Compare later reggaeton n.

For an explanation of the term given by the musician Frederick ‘Toots’ Hibbert (leader of the band Toots and the Maytals, who recorded the song cited in quot. 1968¹), see:

2004   Independent (Electronic ed.) 4 June 18   Hibbert says his naming of the genre on the 1968 single ‘Do The Reggay’ was pure accident. “There's a word we used to use in Jamaica called ‘streggae’,” he recalls. “If a girl is walking and the guys look at her and say ‘Man, she's streggae’ it means she don't dress well, she look raggedy. The girls would say that about the men too. This one morning me and my two friends were playing and I said, ‘OK man, let's do the reggay.’ It was just something that came out of my mouth. So we just start singing ‘Do the reggay, do the reggay’ and created a beat. People tell me later that we had given the sound its name. Before that people had called it blue-beat and all kind of other things.”

orig. Jamaican.

 1. A dance characterized by bent knees and swaying improvised movements of the upper body, originally performed to the shuffling, syncopated rhythm typical of the earliest reggae music (see sense 2). Cf. rocksteady n. 2.

1968   T. Hibbert Do Reggay (song, perf. The Maytals)   I want to do the reggay with you, Come on to me, do the dance, Is this the new dance going round the town? We can move you baby, Do the reggay, do the reggay.

ribbit, int. (and n.)

Etymology: Imitative.

O.E.D. Additions I. (1993) notes that David Carroll, the programme manager of the television programme cited in quot. c1968, stated in a letter of 1986: ‘I am some seventy-two years old, and I recollect hearing the expression as a child.’ Other sources associate early uses of the term with ‘Mel’ Blanc (1908–89, U.S. voice actor and comedian), but conclusive evidence has not been found.

orig. N. Amer.

  Representing the characteristic sound made by a frog, or an imitation of this. Also as n.

c1968   in Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (annotated T.V. script for rebroadcast programme) No. 8. 62   That's right. Ribit! I am. I am a frog.

 

rip-off, n.

Etymology: < to rip off 3 at rip v.¹ Phrasal verbs 1.

slang (orig. U.S.).

 

 1. An act of stealing, a theft; (hence) a fraud, a swindle; (more generally) any instance of esp. financial exploitation.Earliest in rip-off artist n. at Compounds 2.

1968   B. W. Gilbert Ten Blocks from White House ix. 146   There were the ‘rip-off artists’ and other systematic looters, who went to a specific store and looked for items to use or sell.

router, n.⁶

Etymology: < route v. + -er suffix¹.

Electronics and Computing.

 

  A device, circuit, algorithm, etc., which serves to determine the destinations of individual incoming signals; esp. a device which receives data packets and forwards them to the appropriate computer network or part of a network. Cf. gateway n.¹ Additions.

1968   Nucl. Physics A. 116 549   A router circuit sent the coincidences from the first unit to be stored in the first 200 channels of the pulse-height analyser and those from the second to the last 200 channels.

rumpy-pumpy, n.

Etymology: Reduplication with variation of the initial consonant and suffixation (compare -y suffix⁶) of rump n.¹ (with the sense compare ass n.² 2).

humorous or euphem. slang (orig. Brit.).

  Sexual intercourse. a bit of rumpy pumpy: a (prospective) sexual partner; a sexual encounter. Cf. bit n.² 4h.

1968   Sc. National Dict. at Rump   Rumpie-pumpie, a jocular term for copulation.

scuzzy, adj.

Etymology: Perhaps blend of scummy adj. + fuzzy adj.

N. Amer. colloq.

  Dirty, grimy; murky.

1969   Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. li. 16   Scuzzy, groady, skoady, and grungy should probably be listed also under ‘Blends’... Scuzzy, for example, seems to imply fuzzy and scummy: ‘Your teeth are scuzzy.’

Special Olympics, n.

Etymology: < special adj. + the plural of Olympic n. Compare Paralympic n.

  With the. An athletic competition, modelled on the Olympic Games, for athletes with mental disabilities. First held in 1968 (originally called the Chicago Special Olympics) and now recognized by the International Olympic Committee, the Special Olympics include international competitions held at two-yearly intervals as well as competitions on local and national levels.

1968   Chicago Tribune 30 Mar. ii. 11/5   The Chicago park district..will co-sponsor special athletic events for mentally retarded children in a Chicago Special Olympics July 20 in Soldier Field.

T-bone, v.

Etymology: < T-bone n. at T n. Additions.

colloq. (orig. and chiefly N. Amer.).

  trans. Of a motor vehicle or its driver: to crash head-on into the side of (another vehicle). Frequently in pass.Earliest in to T-bone it: to be involved in a collision in which the front of one vehicle hits the side of the other vehicle.

1968   Lubbock (Texas) Avalanche-Jrnl. 9 May c5/1   Two oncoming cars T-boned it for a total wipeout.

telemedicine, n.

Etymology: < tele- comb. form + medicine n.¹

Compare French télé-médecine (1969 or earlier).

Med.

  Medicine practised with the assistance of telecommunications technology, often to provide care in remote locations or to reduce the need for hospital visits.

1968   Boston (Mass.) Sunday Globe Globe Mag. 9/1   While he [sc. Dr. K. T. Bird] strongly feels the field of tele-medicine is just beginning, even in its present state telediagnosis offers an important extension of the eyes and ears of the doctor.

touchy-feely, adj.

Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: touch v., -y suffix¹, feel v.

Etymology: < touch v. + -y suffix¹ + feel v. + -y suffix¹.

Compare later touchy adj. 6.

colloq. (orig. U.S.).

 1. Given to the open expression of affection or other emotions, esp. through hugging or other physical contact; characterized by this kind of open expression.Often implying a degree of disapproval or distaste on the part of the speaker or writer.

1968   N.Y. Times 20 Aug. 25/7   They have been dubbed the ‘touchy-feely’ groups, since their training involves touching and holding hands.

Trudeaumania, n.

Etymology: < the name of Pierre Elliott Trudeau (1919–2000), former Prime Minister of Canada + -mania comb. form.

  Enthusiastic or exaggerated admiration for Trudeau.

1968   Listener 4 July 5/1   With the phenomenal climb to power of Mr Trudeau a tremendous cult has developed among younger Canadians. It's known as Trudeaumania or Trudolatry.

upper, n.²

Etymology: < up v. + -er suffix¹; compare up adj. 5.

slang (orig. U.S.).

 1. A drug (esp. an amphetamine), often in the form of a pill, which has a stimulant or euphoric effect.

1968   Current Slang (Univ. S. Dakota) 3 ii. 50   Upper, type of drug that makes you feel active. Amphetamine is a commonly used stimulant of this kind.

word processor, n.

Etymology: < word n. + processor n. Compare slightly earlier word processing n.

 

  Originally: a computer system used to produce, edit, and store text entered by means of a keyboard, equipped with a printer and frequently with a screen to display text. In later use chiefly: a computer program used to perform these functions.

1968   Office Oct. 70/1   Dura, Div. Intercontinental systems, Inc., 2600 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, Calif. 94306, introduces the Model 941 Word Processor designed for computerless text editing.

YOLO, int. and adj.

Etymology: Acronym < the initial letters of you only live once at live v.¹ Phrases 19.

In recent use perhaps popularized by its use in the lyrics of the song The Motto, released in 2011 by the Canadian rapper Drake.

 A. int.

  ‘You only live once’; used to express the view that one should make the most of the present moment without worrying about the future (often as a rationale for impulsive or reckless behaviour).

1968   Florida Today (Cocoa, Florida) 30 June 42   Naming the vessels..is a chore that delights some owners. One fad is acronyms... Yolo is short for ‘You Only Live Once’.

za, n.

Etymology: Abbreviation of pizza n.

U.S. slang.

  = pizza n.

1968–70   Current Slang (Univ. S. Dakota) III–IV. 140   Za.., pizza.

911, n.

Etymology: < nine n. + one n. + one n. Usually written with numerical symbol.

N. Amer.

 1. In the United States and Canada: a telephone number used to contact the emergency services; the service provided when this number is dialled. Frequently attrib. Cf. 999 n.

1968   N.Y. Times 13 Jan. 62/2   A plan to establish a national emergency telephone number—911—with which police, fire and ambulance services could be summoned from any telephone in the United States was announced yesterday by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company.


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