Goofus - an idiot (antedating - used by Arthur Baer 1916)

[Garson O'Toole]

Ben Zimmer's interesting comment about "Goofus and Gallant" lead me to
search for early instances of Goofus.

HDAS has goofus n. a fool; idiot with a first cite in 1917.

OED (DRAFT ENTRY June 2010) has goofus  A. n.1 A foolish or stupid
person. Cf. DOOFUS n. with a first cite in 1917.

OED also has goofus as an adjective  B. adj. Stupid, foolish. Cf.
DOOFUS adj. with a first cite in 1981.

Here are three cites in 1916 from a syndicated humor column titled
"Facts Not Worth Knowing" written by Arthur "Bugs" Baer. A character
named Goofus is by implication an idiot in the first two cites. In the
third cite the use of Goofus is evolving toward that of an adjective.
Arthur "Bugs" Baer also uses the term Goofus to label some individuals
when he is replying to queries, and to label a roadway. Baer may have
helped popularize the term Goofus, but his usage does not follow a
rigid pattern.

Cite: 1916 June 14, Rockford Republic, Facts Not Worth Knowing by
Arthur Baer, Page 6, Column 5, Rockford, Illinois. (GenealogyBank)

A curved razor is the idea of Daniel Goofus, making it easier for the
shaver's wife to open a can of tomatoes.


Cite: 1916 June 23, Rockford Republic, Facts Not Worth Knowing, Page
6, Column 5, Illinois. (GenealogyBank)

After a lifetime of experimenting, Prof. Goofus the learned zypologist
is convinced that the air is the same temperature on both sides of a
picket fence.


Cite: 1916 August 31, Salt Lake Telegram, Facts Not Worth Knowing by
Arthur Baer, Page 6, Column 3, Salt Lake, Utah. (GenealogyBank)

By draining off the water of Lake Goofus, the management of Goofus
house has enabled its guests to remain perfectly dry while swimming.

Garson


On Thu, Oct 28, 2010 at 11:42 AM, Ben Zimmer
<bgzimmer at babel.ling.upenn.edu> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at BABEL.LING.UPENN.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: doofus (UNCLASSIFIED)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Thu, Oct 28, 2010 at 11:01 AM, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC wrote:
>>
>> HDAS has 1960 for "doofus".
>>
>> William Patterson's new biography of Robert A. Heinlein indicates that
>> Heinlein had a cat named "Doofus" ca. 1945-1946.
>
> ...which is even earlier than the first appearance of "Goofus and
> Gallant" in _Highlights Magazine_ in 1948. (One theory derives
> "doofus" from "goof" via "goofus.")
>
> --bgz
>
>
> --
> Ben Zimmer
> http://benzimmer.com/
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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