[Ads-l] Bugs Bunny coins "Nimrod"?

[Mark Mandel]

As pwonounced by the neo-owiginal, Elmer Fudd.

On Thu, Oct 11, 2018, 12:40 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Quinion's essay is spot on, but HDAS II dealt with the semantics 20 years
> ago.
>
> Cf. blend/derivative "nimwad"?
>
> JL
>
>
>
> On Thu, Oct 11, 2018 at 12:14 PM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > I wouldn't give Bugs sole credit, as much as I'd like to. Michael Quinion
> > does a good job of tracing the semantic evolution:
> >
> > http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-nim1.htm
> >
> > On Thu, Oct 11, 2018 at 12:11 PM Andy Bach <afbach at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > According to "Now You Know" and WikiP, Chuck Jones et alia are the
> actual
> > > coiners of the idiot version:
> > > " The word “nimrod” is commonly used to describe someone who is acting
> > like
> > > a doofus, but the word originally meant the opposite. “Nimrod”
> originally
> > > comes from the name of a biblical Egyptian king who was widely regarded
> > as
> > > a skilled hunter. But, according to Wikipedia
> > > <
> > >
> >
> https://nowiknow.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2889002ad89d45ca21f50ba46&id=aefcd20163&e=33dbfa3b8f
> > > >,
> > > Bugs Bunny (yes, the iconic cartoon character) used the term
> > sarcastically
> > > in reference to hapless hunter Elmer Fudd. Viewers didn’t pick up the
> > > sarcasm and the meaning of the term reversed. "
> > >
> > > WikiP cites "Garner's Modern American Usage":
> > >
> >
> https://books.google.com/books?id=mVcJqKs1isUC&pg=PR53#v=onepage&q&f=false
> > >
> > > Though they also cite the "Dictionary of Jewish Usage"
> > >
> >
> https://books.google.com/books?id=Nk_RFL9LYg0C&pg=PA126#v=onepage&q&f=false
> > >
> > > which says it was in use as meaning "maroon" (said to be Bugs'
> > > pronunciation of "moron", not referring to Maroons, runaway slaves
> (which
> > > the Straight Dope differs:
> > > https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-25808.html
> > > )) is noted as far back as the 1930s


>

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