TV Words

[Mullins, Bill AMRDEC]

To tie this back to an earlier thread, this exchange is exactly why I'm
glad the List allows lay-people like myself to participate.  I learn
something every day.


> >
> > This is the first I've heard of the Howdy Doody origin --
> I've always
> > thought it was surfer slang.
> >
> >
> I'm well aware of my lack of hands-on experience of US '50s
> culture and can but quote:
>
> 1999 Christian Science Monitor 30 Dec. n.p. The exclamation
> 'Cowabunga!'
> appears to have originated with Chief Thunderthud on 'The
> Howdy Doody Show' in 1954. It passed into surfing slang as a
> exclamation of triumph in the 1960s, then became a rallying
> cry for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the 1980s and
> more recently one of Bart's catchwords on 'The Simpsons'
>
> which is the basis of my etymology. I am relieved to see that
> JEL offers a cite (a personal note from John Algeo) which
> appears to bear this out and names the Howdy Doody writer who
> claims to have originated it.
>
> JG
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org