Salon on "fugly"

[Jesse Sheidlower]

On Tue, Mar 08, 2005 at 04:58:24PM -0500, Benjamin Zimmer wrote:
> -----
> http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2005/03/08/fugly/
> The good, the bad and the fugly
> A new fashion buzzword denotes monstrous sartorial sins -- like guys with
> curly hair who wear mullets. Are we in the golden age of bad looks?
> -----
>
> The esteemed Grant Barrett is quoted as saying that "fugly" dates to the
> early to mid-'80s.  Has anything earlier than the 1984 HDAS cite been
> found?

Yes, there's a 1970 quote in _The F-Word_ from an Australian
source.  I think it's Australian at least--I can't find the
source at the moment. Definitely non-US.

Jesse Sheidlower
OED