2008 normcore

[Hugo]

The OxfordWords blog says "onomast Nancy Friedman has unearthed an example
of the word from 2005", but this isn't quite accurate.

http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2014/04/can-core-survive-normcore/


Nancy wrote:

[Begin]
Normcore had a pre-K-Hole existence, albeit an obscure and cultish one.
According to an Urban Dictionary entry published in March 2009, “normcore”
first appeared in the webcomic Templar, Arizona, which launched in May 2005.
[End]


Here's the UD definition:

[Begin]
A subculture based on conscious, artificial adoption of things that are in
widespread use, proven to be acceptable, or otherwise inoffensive.
Ultra-conformists.

First featured as a fictional population in the webcomic Templar, Arizona,
but normcores are totally real.

[Begin example]
Oh, shee-it! You just got gang signed by the worst of 'em! Y'see the slight
forward tilt of the chin, and the causal "hey" with the silent H? That
means he's NORMCORE. Dangerously regular. Dresses only in T-shirts and
jeans, uses slang appropriated from other subcultures, but only 3 years
after its first use, an' only after it's been used in a sitcom."
[End example]

by Skaught March 27, 2009
[End]

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=normcore&defid=3836963


Paul McFedries wrote:

[Begin]
"The Urban Dictionary cite goes on to claim that normcore was "First
featured as a fictional population in the webcomic Templar, Arizona." Based
on that slim lead, I read the four years (!) of Templar, Arizona comics
that appeared before March 27, 2009, but I didn't find any evidence of the
word. ("Read" is, admittedly, too strong a word here.
"Skimmed-because-hey-I-have-a-life" would be closer to the truth, so it's
possible I missed it. If so, and you know which comic the word appears in,
drop me a line"
[End]

http://www.wordspy.com/words/normcore.asp


I've found the comic. Perhaps the reason Paul didn't find it in the main
archives is because it wasn't by the the comic's regular author Charlie
"Spike" Trotman but a one-off guest comic by Ryan Estrada. As part of his
"Ryan Estrada Day" he drew 70 guest comics and posted them on Wednesday 17
September 2008.

http://web.archive.org/web/20080921063143/http://www.ryanestrada.com/2008/09/20/comics/guest-strips/templar-az/

http://web.archive.org/web/20080918065238/http://www.webcomicsnation.com/spike/Templar/series.php?view=single&ID=126095

Here's the text, slightly different from the UD definition:

[Begin]
Oh, shee-yit! You just got gang signed by the worse of 'em! Y'see the
slight tilt of his chin, and the casual "hey" with the silent H? That means
he's NORMCORE. Dangerously regular. Dresses only in T-shirts an' jeans,
uses slang appropriated from other sub cultures, but only 3 years after
it's first use, an' only after it's been used in a sitcom.
[End]

Hugo

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