[Ads-l] Antedating of "Geeky"

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Nice work Fred and Ben. Here is an instance of the adjective geeky in 1972.

Date: January 29, 1972
Newspaper: The State Journal-Register
Newspaper Location: Springfield, Illinois
Article: Allen's Alley
Author: Wayne
Quote Page 14B, Column 2
Database: Newspapers.com
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-state-journal-register-geeky/202719970/

[Begin excerpt]
Q. Who played the geeky vampire on "The Night Stalker"? He was too cool.--L.T.
A. Barry Atwater, (Cool, clear Atwater?).
[End excerpt]

The combination of geeky and cool is a bit odd, but it might just mean
that the questioner likes geeks. The OED definition of geeky is quite
broad because it is based on geek which has many senses.

[Begin OED excerpt]
geeky adjective
Characteristic of or designating a geek.
[End OED excerpt]

The IMDB website has a webpage with images of Barry Atwater playing
the character Janos Skorzeny in The Night Stalker television movie. I
have not seen this TV movie.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067490/characters/nm0041136/

Garson

On Wed, Jul 29, 2026 at 9:37 PM Ben Zimmer
<00001aae0710f4b7-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> New York Times Book Review, Dec. 15, 1974, p. 4, col. 3 (ProQuest)
> [Review of Frank Brady's _Hefner_ by Philip Nobile]
> In the meantime, "Hefner" provides a not altogether uninformative account
> of how a geeky Chicago cartoonist, virgin until his 22nd year, quit his job
> as circulation director of Children's Activities, abandoned plans for a 3‐D
> nudie magazine and, with a borrowed $10,000 and a lot of nerve, pasted up a
> pretentious girlie by the name of Stag Party.
>
> https://www.nytimes.com/1974/12/15/archives/hefner-the-22yearold-virgin-who-made-up-for-lost-time.html
>
> On Wed, Jul 29, 2026 at 8:28 PM Shapiro, Fred <
> 00001ac016895344-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> > geeky (OED 1981)
> >
> > 1978 Los Angeles Times 18 July II. 7/5 (Newspapers.com)
> >
> > They usually see me as that shy kind of geeky guy.
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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