[Ads-l] OED updates

[Ben Zimmer]

On Thu, Dec 13, 2018 at 2:59 PM Bill Mullins <amcombill at hotmail.com> wrote:

>
> Debbie Downer -- OED has 26 Aug 2004 p 90 col 2
> NY _Daily News_ 4 May 2004
> "That's because during one skit, ironically titled 'Debbie Downer,' the
> entire cast fell victim to an infectious giggle fit."
>

The OED's etymology notes that the SNL sketch with Rachel Dratch aired on
May 1, 2004. The first cite from Aug. 26 (Gwyneth Paltrow to Oprah: "I'm
Debbie Downer over here") is, as Katherine Martin noted on Twitter, the
earliest that the OED has found for the *allusive* use of "Debbie Downer"
to refer to a gloomy, pessimistic person.

https://twitter.com/kconnormartin/status/1073232123891453952

--bgz

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