dorky, n. (1965)

[Jonathan Lighter]

"Nuk nuk" must be from Curly of the Three Stooges.

I'd write it "Nyuk nyuk."

JL

On Sat, Mar 3, 2012 at 12:12 PM, Ben Zimmer
<bgzimmer at babel.ling.upenn.edu>wrote:

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> Poster:       Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at BABEL.LING.UPENN.EDU>
> Subject:      dorky, n. (1965)
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Today's OED Word of the Day is "dorky" ('contemptible or pathetic;
> spec. socially awkward, unfashionable'), with cites from 1970. HDAS
> and GDoS have "dork" ('a stupid or obnoxious person') from 1967.
>
> Here's "dorky" as a noun in the sense of "dork" from 1965:
>
> 1965 _Los Angeles Times_ 30 Nov. C4/4 In Eau-Claire, Wis., an
> unpleasant fellow is a "dorky," and "nuk nuk" is the response to a
> not-too-funny joke. [Sylvie Reice, "The Swinging Set," syndicated
> column]
>
> --bgz
>
> --
> Ben Zimmer
> http://benzimmer.com/
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