Wuss & others

[Fred Shapiro]

On Thu, 3 Feb 2000, GSCole wrote:

> The phrase 'nerd pack' is another elusive item.  My first encounter with
> the phrase, with reference to the pocket protector used by engineers,
> and others, to hold pencils, pens, X-acto knives, rulers, etc., was in
> the period late-1970s/early-1980s.  Have seen the phrase in print, but
> have not heard anyone use it.  Nerd pack has another usage, being: a
> pack of nerds.

The Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang has an entry for
this term with citations back to 1981.

Fred R. Shapiro                             Coeditor (with Jane Garry)
Associate Librarian for Public Services     TRIAL AND ERROR: AN OXFORD
  and Lecturer in Legal Research            ANTHOLOGY OF LEGAL STORIES
Yale Law School                             Oxford University Press, 1998
e-mail: fred.shapiro at yale.edu               ISBN 0-19-509547-2