'walk of shame' origin?

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Mon, 21 Feb 2005 11:41:03 +0000, neil <neil at TYPOG.CO.UK> wrote:

>'This was something I had vowed never to do, put myself in the hook-up
>position in someone's fraternity house. Because nothing's anonymous at this
>school, despite what you'd think from the size. A walk of shame the next
>morning would definitely make 34th Street [last 2 words italicised].'
>
>-Rachel Solar-Tuttle, 'number 6 fumbles', Pocket Books, NY, 2002, 39
>
>I understand the concept, but wondered if the origin is sexual or sporting,
>and would be interested to learn of it's earliest occurrence.

Military academies might be the ultimate source.  The earliest Nexis cite
is in a review of Pat Conroy's _Lords of Discipline_ (1980), a novel about
life at a Southern military academy:

-----
Washington Post, Oct 23, 1980, D1
When one of your [sc. Pat Conroy's] characters is expelled on an honor
violation and takes the Walk of Shame, it means that none of his
classmates will ever mention his name again.
...
"I like to ask questions. For example, I interviewed several former cadets
who underwent the Walk of Shame and similar military-school disciplinary
measures, and guess what? A lot of times their lives were ruined by it."
-----

Conroy's book is searchable on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0553381563/?v=search-inside&keywords=walk-of-shame

The earliest cite I've found for the sexual sense is from 1991:

-----
http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=136085
Harvard Crimson, March 19, 1991
And at 5 a.m. on a Sunday morning, there's nothing better than a friendly
face to welcome you back home as you take your "walk of shame" past the BD
[sc. Bell's Desk].
-----

I'm pretty sure the expression was already in collegiate parlance by the
mid- to late '80s.


--Ben Zimmer