Snerd (1948-1951)

[Wilson Gray]

Q. What's the difference between a Cadillac and a Cadiddlelac?
A. Well, the Cadiddlelac has a diddle in the middle.

                       -Mortimer Snerd

Mortimer, who was a buck-toothed yokel, may possibly be the inspiration
for Cletus the Buck-Toothed Yokel of The Simpsons. He also had a catch
phrase, "It's possa-bull, it's possa-bull."

Have you tried the spelling "gnurd," which appeared, with accompanying
illustration, in the National Lampoon some time in the '70's. The
illustration was of a stereotypical "nerd" in the contemporary sense:
broken glasses held together with tape, pocket protector, cuffed,
hish-water britches pants, sagging argyle ankle socks etc.

-Wilson Gray

On Aug 4, 2004, at 10:57 PM, Douglas G. Wilson wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Douglas G. Wilson" <douglas at NB.NET>
> Subject:      Snerd (1948-1951)
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
>
> This is a possible ancestor of "nerd" (which dates from 1951 AFAIK), as
> conjectured in HDAS etc.
>
> "Snerd" = "Mortimer Snerd", the name of Edgar Bergen's puppet. The
> usual
> meaning was either "idiot" or "bumpkin". In some cases I think it may
> have
> had a sense of "puppet"/"dupe" too. It did NOT have a sense of
> "egghead" or
> "technical whiz" as far as I can tell.
>
> Here are a few examples. There are others, earlier and later.
>
> ----------
>
> _Walla Walla Union Bulletin_ (Walla Walla WA), 1 Feb. 1948: p. 12,
> col. 4:
>
> <<[title] Russians Not To Be Trusted / .... / [section title] They're
> Not
> Snerds / That Stalin, Molotov and Vishinsky are plain stupid is a
> conclusion to be wary of.>>
>
> ----------
>
> _Zanesville Signal_ (Zanesville OH), 18 March 1949: p. 4, col. 3:
>
> <<.... the Communists have turned to the colleges, arts and
> entertainment
> fields, always good for a large crop of cultural Snerds to work for
> pro-Soviet policies.>>
>
> ----------
>
> _Waukesha Daily Freeman_ (Waukesha WI), 29 Aug. 1949: p. 6(?), col. 3:
>
> <<You can almost see and hear the Snerdish inhabitant blushing and
> admitting, in his infinite greenness: "I come from Gurkee's Corners.
> Have a
> chaw?">>
>
> ----------
>
> _Bridgeport Telegram_ (Bridgeport CN), 19 July 1951: p. 3, col. 2:
>
> <<Already, John Temple Graves, Jr., one of the early dupes of the
> patronizing social vulgarity of the Roosevelts which made drooling
> Mortimer
> Snerds of some Southern editors, had written a challenge to Byrd,
> himself.>>
>
> ----------
>
> -- Doug Wilson
>