rawk (1987)

[Jesse Sheidlower]

On Thu, Feb 24, 2005 at 03:19:17AM -0500, Benjamin Zimmer wrote:
> The pronunciation spelling "rawk" for "rock" (music) came up recently on
> the alt.usage.english newsgroup.  For speakers who haven't merged "cot"
> and "caught", "rawk" suggests an exaggerated pronunciation that might be
> associated with young male fans of hard rock (possibly also evoking "raw"
> or "raucous").
>
> I was surprised that I couldn't find anything in the databases before 1987
> (and even then mostly from one writer, L.A. Times rock critic Duncan
> Strauss).  I would've guessed that it dates back at least to the late
> '70s, from either the punk-rock or arena-rock scenes.

We have examples from 1989 in British sources (referring to the
U.S.), and frequently thereafter.

Perhaps the scarcity of examples reflects the adoption of the
distinctive spelling only. It's likely that people said "rawk"
earlier, but perhaps critics just didn't write it down.

Jesse Sheidlower
OED