Negative Nancies and other related musings

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Tue, Mar 23, 2010 at 9:20 AM, Amy West wrote:
>
> I'm not all caught up on the digests yet, but I don't think anyone's
> mentioned the variant I've heard hear in Worcester:
>
> Debbie Downer
>
> "I don't mean to be Debbie Downer . . ."
>
> (uttered by a woman named Debbie, so maybe it's not completely
> lexicalized yet; those of us in this volunteer group do use the term
> though . . . )

Popularized, of course, by the Saturday Night Live sketch starring Rachel Dratch
in the title role. The first Debbie Downer sketch was on the May 1, 2004 show
(and was memorable for the cast members' inability to control their laughter).

Video: http://www.hulu.com/watch/68225/saturday-night-live-debbie-downer
Transcript: http://snltranscripts.jt.org/03/03rdowner.phtml


--Ben Zimmer

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