cuckoo-for-cocoa-puffs

[George Thompson]

So if this expression alludes to a commercial that hasn't been seen for 15
years or so, why is there a sudden outbreak now?  I'd never seen the
commercial, and had never until this series commenced encountered the
expression.'

GAT

On Sat, Aug 25, 2012 at 4:07 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:

> Joel, there are actual grownups who cannot remember a time before the
> 1980s.
>
> I was about to say, "I pity them," but I think I pity me more.
>
> JL
>
> On Sat, Aug 25, 2012 at 2:59 PM, Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com
> >wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: cuckoo-for-cocoa-puffs
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > I had assumed this was well known, so no reference would be needed. But,
> > for the sake of completion:
> >
> > 1960s
> > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uVP1Uy5tL0
> >
> > 1970s
> > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jF3m-ZuF1lQ
> > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3q-zwvqBq8
> > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n28iAlszTg8
> >
> > 1980s
> > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1CBftRW0F8
> > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWyfE4VZiUY
> >
> > 1990s
> > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxqQ62rvWqc
> > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6E2K88MnoM
> >
> > The bird's name is Sonny.
> >
> >      VS-)
> >
> > On 8/25/2012 2:34 PM, Joel S. Berson wrote:
> > > This comes from the commercial (of the '80s, I'm told).  That cuckoo
> > > was certainly "crazily enthusiastic"; he/she can be seen in
> > > YouTube.  So not purely an alliterative origin; alien archaeologists
> > > 20 years from now will certainly know what it means and be able to
> > > trace its source.
> > >
> > > Joel
> > >
> > > At 8/25/2012 01:14 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> > >> I heard somebody else use this phrase on CNN in the past week (as a
> > synonym
> > >> for "crazy" or "crazily enthusiastic").
> > >>
> > >> JL
> > >> On Sat, Aug 25, 2012 at 12:55 PM, Victor Steinbok <
> aardvark66 at gmail.com
> > >wrote:
> > >>
> >
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >>> In 20 years,  will anyone know what this means?
> > >>>
> > >>> "That in itself speaks volumes about the cuckoo-for-cocoa-puffs
> essence
> > >>> of the contemporary GOP."
> > >>>
> > >>> Or will we be analyzing it as some sort of alliterative iteration?
> > >>>
> > >>>       VS-)
> > >>>
> > >>> PS: If anyone cares about the origin, that's Kathleen Geier, subbing
> on
> > >>> weekends at the Washington Monthly blog.
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



--
George A. Thompson
Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern
Univ. Pr., 1998, but nothing much since then.

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