[Ads-l] Earliest Known Use of "Karen"

[Shapiro, Fred]

After sending my query, I came upon the "Among the New Words" item for "Karen."  This is invaluable, the mother lode for Karenologists  Thank you, Ben.

Fred Shapiro

________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Saturday, March 16, 2024 11:37 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Earliest Known Use of "Karen"

We covered "Karen" in the Feb. 2021 installment of "Among the New Words"
(American Speech 96.1), as it was nominated for 2019 ADS Word of the Year.

https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fread.dukeupress.edu%2Famerican-speech%2Farticle-abstract%2F96%2F1%2F105%2F168403%2FAmong-the-New-Words&data=05%7C02%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C6bad51f9c4814b0d734808dc45cf09d8%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C638462002728254270%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=BsN8rLG4jUab5hFRQ8TeX9Yv7kuGAZUTpcnQOoWUt4s%3D&reserved=0<https://read.dukeupress.edu/american-speech/article-abstract/96/1/105/168403/Among-the-New-Words>

If you click through to the supplementary online material, you'll find our
citations going back to a bracketed use in "Mean Girls" in 2004, followed
by Dane Cook's standup act in 2005, and then the more generic usage
starting in 2015.

---
Karen, noun
Stereotype of a complaining, self-important middle-aged white woman, often
portrayed as making demands in retail settings and policing other people’s
behavior

[2004 Apr. 30, Tina Fey (writer) & Mark Waters (director) Mean Girls,
Paramount: [Karen Smith (Amanda Seyfried):] If you're from Africa, why are
you White? [Gretchen
Wieners (Lacey Chabert):] Oh my god, Karen. You can't just ask people why
they're White.]

2005 July 26, Dane Cook, Retaliation, Comedy Central Records: There is one
person, in every group of friends, that nobody fucking likes. You basically
keep them there to hate their guts. When that person is not around the rest
of your little base camp, your hobby is cutting that person down. Example,
Karen, is always a douchebag. Every group has a Karen, and she is always a
bag of douche. And when she's not around, you just look at each other and
say, "God, Karen, she's such a douchebag!"

2015 Aug., Jay Pharoah, Can I Be Me? Showtime: People always say the same
thing when bad things happen: "Oh my God. Why do people do such things? Oh
my God." This is my impression of a concerned White woman, "Oh my God. Why
do people do such things? Oh my God, Karen." It's always a Karen. "Oh my
God, Karen." Yo, I learned something: you want to go to a White people's
party, say you know Karen. They will take care of your ass the whole day.
"You know Karen? Well, come on, sit down. Have a pumpkin spice latte."

2015 Sept. 10, Peighton Marsh (@PeightonHM), Twitter: When I get sassy I
remind myself of a pissed off soccer mom. My alter ego is Karen the salty
soccer mom. I’d like to speak to the manager.

[etc.]
---

--bgz


On Sat, Mar 16, 2024 at 11:21 AM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu>
wrote:

> I would welcome any information about what is the earliest known use of
> the term "karen" to refer to a privileged white woman.
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
>

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