baby bump

[Ben Zimmer]

On Tue, Aug 30, 2011 at 3:43 AM, Jesse Sheidlower wrote:
>
> On Tue, Aug 30, 2011 at 03:11:43AM -0400, victor steinbok wrote:
>> Has "baby bump" been mentioned here previously? It seems to be a popular
>> expression, initially taken from British tabloids, but now used in US press
>> as well, in reference to pregnant public figures. I've seen it used on a
>> couple of occasions in more general environments, but, for the most part,
>> the targets are celebrities--Beyonce being the latest.

Check the archive for discussion in early '08. Lynne Murphy had it as
the BrE-to-AmE Word of the Year on her Separated by a Common Language
blog.

http://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com/2008/01/2007s-words-of-year.html

>> OED is mum on the subject, of course.
>
> Well, we do have _bump_ in this sense.

And Oxford Dictionaries Online added "baby bump" in its May 2011 batch
of new entries.

http://oxforddictionaries.com/search?newWord=New%20words:%20May%202011

--bgz

--
Ben Zimmer
http://benzimmer.com/

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