Claim for origin of "Cruisazy"

[Benjamin Zimmer]

Good grief... See what Colbert has done? Now everybody wants to get credit!

Since I was the one who nominated "Cruisazy", let me just point out
that back in July I dutifully noted MissWit's creation of the term as
reported by Page Six:

http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0507b&L=ads-l&P=30394

And IIRC during the nominating session I mentioned that the term had
appeared on designer T-shirts worn by celebrities.

Now who's responsible for "jump the couch"?

--Ben Zimmer

On 1/13/06, AAllan at aol.com <AAllan at aol.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       AAllan at AOL.COM
> Subject:      Claim for origin of "Cruisazy"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The following communication arrived recently. I replied as follows below it.=
> =20
> Note that I said "may" rather than "will," but if her claim is indeed true,=20=
> we=20
> might want to add a short comment to that effect in our official=20
> announcement. - Allan
> --------------------------------------------
> > From - Deborah Goldstein <deb at misswit.net>
> Subject - The Originator of Cruisazy
>
> January 8, 2006
>
> To Whom it May Concern:
>
> In reference to the article by Heather Clark from the Assoicated Press,
> Linguists gather to vote on 2005 Words of the Year I am most pleased
> that the word Cruisazy is up for the linguist vote, however I find it
> disturbing that credit for the word and definition has not been given,
> as though it had no origin or as if the linguists themselves created
> it.=A0 The NY POST's Page Six along with=A0 NY Magazine, Philadelphia
> Weekly and countless web sites around the globe have recognized this as
> a NEOLOGISM created and defined by MissWit.net=A0 in June of 2005 - as
> the New York Post writes:=A0 SIGHTINGS . . .
> TATUM O'Neal at Mod World on First Street, buying a T-shirt showing Tom
> Cruise's beaming face over the neologism "Cruisazy," which designer
> MissWit defines as, "To be like Tom Cruise. To act in a way that is Tom
> Cruise-like. To know something completely, that others do not."=A0 Google
> Cruisazy, see where it leads, always to MissWit!
> It's totally cruisazy that you should leave this valuable information
> out!=A0 Where is the truthiness in your reporting?
>
> Thank you.
> Deborah Goldstein aka MissWit.net
> Brooklyn, NY
>
>
> Google Cruisazy, noticed the dates before this artcle and where they
> lead....to Japan, Brazil, Germany.....
> -------------------------------------------------------
>
> Dear Ms. Goldstein:
>
> Thank you for your recent communication to the Linguistic Society, which was=
> =20
> forwarded to me as executive of the American Dialect Society, the sponsoring=
> =20
> organization for the Words of the Year vote.
>
> We are always interested in the origins of the words we discuss. I will pass=
> =20
> your information on to our membership, and in due course the origin of=20
> "Cruisazy" may be included in the official announcement of our Words of the=20=
> Year, on=20
> our website www.americandialect.org.
>
> Best wishes - Allan Metcalf
>