spaz and Tiger Woods

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On 4/12/06, FRITZ JUENGLING <juengling_fritz at salkeiz.k12.or.us> wrote:
>
> I don't know whether anyone has seen or heard of this, but you might want to
> have a look at the BBC site:
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4902432.stm
>
> Golfer Tiger Woods has been criticised for saying he played like 'a spaz'.
> Can using the word ever be right?
>
> Two things are surprising to me. First, that the word 'spaz' is such a strong
> term in the UK.  It seems the Brits are going bonkers over this.  Secondly,
> I've heard this term all my life and I have never heard it in the way that I think
> Tiger may have meant it. The writer of the article writes " Spaz has become
> synonymous with useless incompetence..." For me, it means nothing of the
> sort, but rather has to do with uncontrolled action, almost always excitement.

I think Tiger *was* talking about uncontrolled action, given the context:

-----
"I was so in control from tee to green, the best I've played for
years... But as soon as I got on the green I was a spaz."
-----

As Alice notes, in American usage "spaz" usually connotes a general
sense of klutziness or lack of social graces. We had a thread last
year about "spaz(z)" where this sense was attested back to mid/late
'50s.

http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0506D&L=ADS-L&P=R11389


--Ben Zimmer

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