zas, buses, droids, roids--and drates

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

Dave Barry invented a new foreclipping in today's news; see:

http://dailybeacon.utk.edu/article.php/14465

Well, why *is* it "carbs" rather than "drates"? Barry creates pseudoslang
that somehow seems vaguely what one would EXPECT of the 1980s, simply by using a
marked form of clipping rather than the unmarked form that is all the rage
these days.

The column begins (see penultimate sentence):

I probably shouldn't admit this to you younger readers, but when my
generation was your age, we did some pretty stupid things. I'm talking about taking
CRAZY risks. We drank water right from the tap. We used aspirin bottles that you
could actually open with your bare hands. We bought appliances that were not
festooned with helpful safety warnings such as, "DO NOT BATHE WITH THIS
TOASTER."

But for sheer insanity, the wildest thing we did was - prepare to be shocked
- we deliberately ingested carbohydrates.

I know, I know. It was wrong. But we were young and foolish, and there was a
lot of peer pressure. You'd be at a party, and there would be a lava lamp
blooping away, and a Jimi Hendrix record playing (a "record" was a primitive
compact disc that operated by static electricity). And then, when the mood was
right, somebody would say, "You wanna do some 'drates?" And the next thing you
know, there'd be a bowl of pretzels going around, or crackers, or even potato
chips, and we'd put these things into our mouths and just ... EAT them.

*****It appears, however, that Barry may not have been the first to use this
clipping (http://whybotherwithit.blogspot.com/):

Wednesday, March 31, 2004
Good stuff.
I too, have been known to dabble in 'drates.
# posted by Bryan : 1:38 PM

*****I also found the abbreviation "ca drates" (using Google) at

http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m0820/n220/17631642/p1/article.jhtml:

Two years ago, vegetarians rejoiced when nutritionists reported that most
people get all the protein and amino acids they need from plants a were also told
body stores ca drates differently than other nutrients, burning additional
calories in the process of converting foods like pasta and whole grains into
glycogen. The news that carbohydrates burn fat spurred a nationwide pasta binge.