spaz and Tiger Woods

[Fred Shapiro]

On Wed, 12 Apr 2006, Alice Faber wrote:

> To me, "spaz" means klutz, incompetent bozo and the like. It was
> commonly used in this meaning on the playground and the like where I
> grew up outside of NYC in the 50s and 60s. Of course, back then, we
> didn't know the etymology or that spasticity is a neurological condition.

To me, growing up in the same locale, the etymology was well-known.  "If
you're spastic and you know it, clap your hands..."

Fred Shapiro


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Fred R. Shapiro                             Editor
Associate Librarian for Collections and     YALE BOOK OF QUOTATIONS
   Access and Lecturer in Legal Research     Yale University Press,
Yale Law School                             forthcoming
e-mail: fred.shapiro at yale.edu               http://quotationdictionary.com
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