doofus (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Ben Zimmer]

On Thu, Oct 28, 2010 at 11:01 AM, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC wrote:
>
> HDAS has 1960 for "doofus".
>
> William Patterson's new biography of Robert A. Heinlein indicates that
> Heinlein had a cat named "Doofus" ca. 1945-1946.

...which is even earlier than the first appearance of "Goofus and
Gallant" in _Highlights Magazine_ in 1948. (One theory derives
"doofus" from "goof" via "goofus.")

--bgz


--
Ben Zimmer
http://benzimmer.com/

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org