"um-weird" (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Jesse Sheidlower]

I don't think this is an antedating of the term _um-friend_
itself. It's just an example of the construction from which it
derives.

Jesse Sheidlower
OED

On Mon, Sep 14, 2009 at 11:26:00AM -0500, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC wrote:
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
> Slight antedating:
>
> "Stargazing"
> The Kansas City Star - Monday, March 6, 1995 p D1 (from Newsbank
> database)
>
> "The last straw: Quinn, 80, fathered a daughter with his much-younger
> secretary 18 months ago. He's often seen with his, um, friend and their
> child in public."  [re: actor Anthony Quinn]
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> > Behalf Of Benjamin Zimmer
> > Sent: Saturday, September 12, 2009 8:10 PM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: Re: "um-weird"
> >
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> ---------------
> > --------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Benjamin Zimmer <bgzimmer at BABEL.LING.UPENN.EDU>
> > Subject:      Re: "um-weird"
> >
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> > --------
> >
> > On Sat, Sep 12, 2009 at 11:04 AM, Jesse Sheidlower <jester at panix.com>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > On Sat, Sep 12, 2009 at 11:00:43AM -0400, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> > > > Many years ago when the list was young someone began to refer to
> > erotica as
> > > > "um, literature."  E.g.: "The word maily shows up in certain sorts
> > of, um,
> > > > literature"
> > > > Wilson may have been involved in this.
> > >
> > > I think the original was "um-friend", from "This is my, um,
> > > friend," and IIRC this was well before Wilson's involvement in
> > > the list (but I'm too lazy to search right now).
> >
> > First appearance that I'm aware of was in the May 1996 issue of
> > _Wired_ (Jargon Watch):
> >
> > ---
> > http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.05/jargon_watch.html
> > Umfriend
> > A sexual relationship of dubious standing. "This is Dale, my... um...
> > friend."
> > ---
> >
> >
> > --Ben Zimmer
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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