[Ads-l] teotwawki

Mon Apr 15 01:56:16 UTC 2024

There was a match in the Usenet newsgroup misc.survivalism in
September 1996. This was after the journal match in May 1996 (in my
previous message). The Usenet message poster uses "TM" to indicate a
trademark, but this usage may have been jocular.

Usenet newsgroup: misc.survivalism
Poster: Mike S. Medintz
Timestamp: Sep 15, 1996, 3:00:00 AM
Subject: Salt

[Begin excerpt]
Point taken. However, getting caught poaching before TEotWawKI(TM) is a
definite bummer.
[End excerpt]

The Wikipedia entry for Survivalism has the following. The citations
are not to direct sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivalism

[Begin excerpt]
TEOTWAWKI: The end of the world as we know it. The expression is in
use since at least the early 1960s (tagline to television film Threads
(1984)).[63][79][80] However, others claim the acronym may have been
coined in 1987 by REM in their song "It's The End Of The World As We
Know It" or 1996, in the Usenet newsgroup misc.survivalism.[81][82]

63. "A Glossary of Survival and Preparedness Acronyms/Terms".
SurvivalBlog.com. SurvivalBlog. Archived from the original on
2014-02-28. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
79. "American Survival Blog". Survival.red-alerts.com. Archived from
the original on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2010-08-13.
80. "Threads (TV Movie 1984)". Archived from the original on
2020-11-11. Retrieved 2019-01-27 – via www.imdb.com.
81. Bax (10 January 2009). "Daily Survival". Archived from the
original on 10 January 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
82. "How to talk like a doomsday prepper". BostonGlobe.com. Archived
from the original on 2017-06-08. Retrieved 2017-06-22.
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Sun, Apr 14, 2024 at 9:37 PM ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> A fan of R.E.M. used the acronym ITEOTWAWKI instead of TEOTWAWKI in
> April 1994. The longer acronym matched the full song title. The match
> occurred in the subject line and not in the body of the Usenet
> message.
> Further below is a match which fits the modern usage in May 1996.
>
> Usenet newsgroup: rec.music.rem
> Poster: The MAXX
> Timestamp: Apr 7, 1994, 10:50:25 AM
> Subject: ITEOTWAWKI Lyrics (funny) :)
> https://groups.google.com/g/rec.music.rem/c/p7k6FfCwLFI/m/EJEUrYz-ZB8J
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> There's a part in "It's the End of the World as We Know it" that goes
> "a tournament, a tournament, a tournament of lies" and until I got the
> lyrics off of FTP, I thought for the longest time that it said
> "Turn 'em into, turn 'em into, turn 'em into flies"
> Just thought everyone would like to know...
> [End excerpt]
>
> Here is a match in the science fiction domain in 1996.
>
> Date: May 1996
> Journal: Postmodern Culture; Baltimore. Maryland
> Volume 6, Issue 3
> Article: The Slow Apocalypse: A Gradualistic Theory of the World's Demise
> Author: Andrew McMurry
> Database: ProQuest
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> For example, science fiction has developed an entire sub-genre to
> explore the myriad shapes the apocalypse might take, and not
> surprisingly, these books and movies about TEOTWAWKI form a catalogue
> of disaster scenarios that replicate perfectly the seven deadly sins:
> nuclear "anger" in A Canticle for Leibowitz and The Day After; the
> "lust" of overpopulation in Soylent Green and Stand on Zanzibar; . . .
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson
>
> On Sun, Apr 14, 2024 at 9:10 PM ADSGarson O'Toole
> <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Here is a Usenet newsgroup match in 1995 from a fan of the band R.E.M.
> > referring to the song "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I
> > Feel Fine)". The Fritinancy article mentioned the connection to R.E.M.
> >
> > Usenet newsgroup: rec.music.rem
> > Poster: KimMomMSW
> > Timestamp: Nov 23, 1995, 3:00:00 AM
> > Subject: Last Show Highlights
> >
> > https://groups.google.com/g/rec.music.rem/c/uB9ztO3zcrw/m/QPMcSTQVw8cJ
> >
> > [Begin excerpt]
> > Then, during TEOTWAWKI about 25-30 apparently "honored guests" came up
> > on stage from the side of the stage where they had been standing and
> > danced around. It was wild!! I wanted to be up there.
> > [End excerpt]
> >
> > Garson
> >
> > On Sun, Apr 14, 2024 at 8:01 PM Nancy Friedman <wordworking at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > It’s pronounced “tee-ought-wah-kee,” and it’s been around for at least a
> > > couple of decades. (A paywalled Boston Globe article to which I don't have
> > > full access says since 1996.)  I included it in a 2012 post about peppers:
> > >
> > > https://nancyfriedman.typepad.com/away_with_words/2012/11/word-of-the-week-prepper.html
> > >
> > > Nancy Friedman
> > > Chief Wordworker
> > > https://wordworking.com
> > > https://fritinancy.substack.com
> > >
> > > tel 510 652-4159
> > > cel 510 304-3953
> > > twitter/mastodon/instagram/bluesky/Threads @Fritinancy
> > >
> > > On Sun, Apr 14, 2024, 4:21 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > >
> > > > https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/yes-civil-war-movie-terrifying-110000545.html
> > > > :
> > > >
> > > > Some [militia groups] are more generally preparing for social collapse —
> > > > what’s known in online circles as “teotwawki,” for “the end of the world as
> > > > we know it”— and are stockpiling weapons and supplies in anticipation.
> > > >
> > > > JL
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
> > > >
> > > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > > >
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org