dorky, n. (1965)

[Laurence Horn]

Maybe the L. A. Times left off the tilde.  An alternate hypothesis, that the palatalization was a later development, seems unlikely; at least I too only remember it as "nyuk nyuk" from the 60s or earlier.

LH

On Mar 3, 2012, at 12:28 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

> "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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>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> 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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>
>
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