Q: Coiner of "power nap"?

Wed Mar 17 14:58:48 UTC 2010

I can recall a lot of talk about "power naps" no earlier than 1986 or '87.

I've always assumed "power meeting" provided the model, but I suppose it
could just as well have been "power tool" or "power boat."

JL

On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 10:49 AM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:

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> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Re: Q: Coiner of "power nap"?
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> <font size=3>I confess I didn't try to uncover confirmation of 1936 from
> a source that gives just snippets (or elsewhere -- I had searched for
> years earlier than 1986, the OED's earliest citation).<br><br>
> In any case, the 1985 antedating by one year might be genuine, and my
> question about who was the coiner remains.<br><br>
> Joel<br><br>
> At 3/16/2010 11:11 PM, Garson O'Toole wrote:<br>
> <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">> Or does "power
> nap" go back to 1936, in The New Yorker, Vol. 12,<br>
> > issue 2, page 80, col. 2, snippet view:<br>
> ><br>
> > Boulware is so drunk and so terrified that he collapses (or, as
> one<br>
> > of the policemen puts it, "is so boxed, his response is to take
> a<br>
> > little power nap on the sidewalk"), while Cash does the right
> thing<br>
> > and hands over his wallet.<br><br>
> The novel Lush Life by Richard Price was reviewed in an issue of the<br>
> New Yorker dated April 7, 2008 (online). I think this text is from
> the<br>
> review (and the novel). Apparently this is another case of faulty<br>
> metadata.<br><br>
> <a href="
> http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2008/04/07/080407crbo_books_wood?currentPage=2"
> eudora="autourl">
>
> http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2008/04/07/080407crbo_books_wood?currentPage=2
> </a>
>  </font></blockquote></body>
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