wussy (1977)

Benjamin Zimmer bgzimmer at RCI.RUTGERS.EDU
Fri Aug 12 08:19:36 UTC 2005


The latest OED entries include "wuss(y)", but with surprisingly late
first-cite dates: "wuss" 1984, "wussy" (n.) 1981, "wussy" (adj.) 1985.
(1984 for "wuss"? C'mon, that was two years after the definitive "wuss"
usage in _Fast Times at Ridgemont High_!)

Anyway, here's a 1977 cite for adjectival "wussy" from the Crimson...

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http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=90980
Harvard Crimson, September 12, 1977
A group of jocks stand on the Weld stairs. "Soccer!" one shouts, "What
kind of wussy sport is that? Look no hands! Nah, I'm just shittin' ya."
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The Crimson also has "wuss" from 1978, though that doesn't beat Connie
Eble's 1976 attestation or Barry's 1977 find from The Ithacan.

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http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=111886
Harvard Crimson, November 15, 1978
"I'd go down to the park with him and play for an hour every night," she
remembers. "If I told him I didn't want to play, he'd call me a 'wuss' or
a 'wimp' and drag me out anyway."
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--Ben Zimmer



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