gnarly = cool (1979)

[Baker, John]

        Doesn't "cherry" just mean "red" here?  Although the Prince song
hadn't yet appeared, red was already a popular color for Corvettes.

John Baker


-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
Of Mullins, Bill
Sent: Friday, September 30, 2005 2:05 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: gnarly = cool (1979)

While hunting for gnarly and rad, I found:

cherry (attrib) [OED has 1889 for cherry = virginity (noun), but nothing
for adjectival.  Plus, the following sense isn't literally "virgin", but
at best a figurative use.]

Riding the Waves of 'California Dreaming'
LEE GRANT
Los Angeles Times; Dec 11, 1977; "Calendar" section, p.66 col 1.
"The weather was so <i> bitchin </i>.  And the girls were <i> choice
</i>. That Corvette, so <i> cherry </i>.  The surf was up, the waves <i>
gnarly </i>."