[Ads-l] zorch

[Ben Zimmer]

I wrote a WSJ column on "zorch" back in 2014:

http://online.wsj.com/articles/the-admiral-whos-fond-of-the-word-zorch-1403301934?reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
archived: https://archive.is/djFuU

For the "go at scorching speed" meaning, I cite the 1960 edition of the
dictionary from MIT's Tech Model Railroad Club, which defines "zorch" as
"to travel, with v approaching c" (i.e., with velocity approaching light
speed).

https://www.gricer.com/tmrc/dictionary1960.html

--bgz


On Fri, Apr 18, 2025 at 1:58 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Not in OED. Mentioned here in connection with "zilch,' but not yet
> specifically treated.
>
> zorch  adj. & interj.  [popularized by R. B. “Red” Blanchard, Jr., Calif.
> disk jockey] splendid.
>
> 1953 High School World (Topeka, Kans.) (Feb. 20) 3: “Zorch” and “Zaa” are
> his favorite slang expressions.
>
> 1953 Milwaukee Journal (May 21) “Greensheet”: Zorch - Sensational,
> marvelous, the greatest.
>
> 1953 Time (June 22): Real Zorch.
>
> 1953 Warrensburg [N.Y.] News (July 30) 4: They then exchanged one sneaker
> each so that they might call themselves crazy, mixed-up Keds. Real zorch,
> eh?
>
> 1954 Warrensburg [N1: .Y.] News (Oct. 28) 9: The decorations were zorch, as
> were the games.
>
> 1958 Kingston [N.Y.] Daily Freeman (May 21) 21: A come-as-you-are party?
> How utterly zorch!
>
> 2004 Stone Age Woo: The Zorch Sounds of Nervous Norvus (Norton CD
> 10094662).
>
> As a n., 'outrageous craze; kick'  Rare.
>
> 1953 Albany [N.Y.] Times Union (July 22) 4: Burned Initials Latest “Zorch,”
> Girl Tells Judge…It was considered to be the latest zorch in her circle to
> wear the brands. She burned them on with matches.
>
> As v., 1.  to go at scorching speed.
>
> 1964 Muskegon [Mich.] Chronicle (Jan. 24) 8: If you're going to "bomb"
> around...with the teen-agers, you'll have to be "hep" to their
> lingo....Zorch - refers to some kind of movement, the car zorched out!
>
> 2000 Times-Picayune (N.O.) (June 16) "Lagniappe" 18:  The doctor throws a
> switch, jagged lines of lightening [sic] zorch from helmet to helmet.
>
> 2007 Jack Broughton _Rupert Red Two_ (St. Paul. Minn.: Zenith) 194:
> Ed...with the throttle wide open, zorched over the top of the hill.
>
> 2. to  harm seriously; destroy (as by a burst of energy or electricity).
>
> 1958 Julian May _There’s Adventure in Rockets_ (Chi.: Popular Mechanics
> Press) 42: You could've got zorched, but good.
>
> 1984 Boston Globe  (Nov. 11) 12: He zorched his academic career.
>
> 1986 Austin American-Statesman (Dec. 7) G-8: Recover, re-enter data of
> ZORCHED floppies.
>
> 1991 Tulare [Calif.] Advance-Register (Jan. 18) 13:  Zorched by Zarches,
> Spaceman Spiff's crippled craft crashes on Planet Plootarg.
>
> 2001 _Business Week_ (Apr. 23) 12: It makes no backup copies of the
> message, and can be set so that a message is destroyed ("zorched," in
> SafeMessage lingo) within a time set by the sender.
>
> As interj., 'buzz!; zap!' Rare.
>
> 2008 Georgia Times-Union (Brunswick, Ga.) (Nov. 10 (Mandarin Sun Sec.) 10:
> I like the jellyfish buzzing around. The jellyfish go "Zorch! zap! zarc!"
> --
> "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