"Earworm"

[Douglas G. Wilson]

>According to Heather Wood and the other fine folks at the Forum for Ballad
>Scholars (<BALLAD-L at LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>), an "earworm" is a nagging tune
>that is maddeningly difficult to get out of one's mind.  As far as anyone
>knows, it's a hot new loan-translation of German Ohrwurm, a "haunting melody."

German "Ohrwurm" is basically equivalent to English "earwig", I guess:
according to legend the bug crawls into one's ear and cannot be removed, I
think. So it would appear likely that the German word was used figuratively
for "catchy tune" and then crudely 'translated' into English as "earworm"
in spite of the existence of the 'proper' translation "earwig" and in spite
of the existence of another (inappropriate) English word "earworm". However
it is also possible that the loan went the other way, with English
"earworm" coined by analogy with "computer worm" (something which sneaks
into one's computer/software).

I find the figurative "Ohrwurm" (German) at Google Groups from 1991, the
appropriate English "earworm" from 1993.

-- Doug Wilson