4.0064 A Glom and some Nerds (98)

Elaine Brennan & Allen Renear (EDITORS@BROWNVM.BITNET)
Thu, 17 May 90 16:55:44 EDT

Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 4, No. 0064. Thursday, 17 May 1990.


(1) Date: Wed, 16 May 90 15:44:25 PLT (5 lines)
From: Paul Brians <HRC$04@WSUVM1>
Subject: Glom

(2) Date: Wed, 16 May 90 22:49 PDT (20 lines)
From: Robert Kirsner (213)825-3955 <IDT1RSK@UCLAMVS.BITNET>
Subject: The Glom, Consolidated Interglom

(3) Date: Wed, 16 May 90 18:14 EST (12 lines)
From: <MSWENSON@IUBACS>
Subject: RE: 4.0056 Glom and Doddle (1); Nerds (7).

(4) Date: 16 May 90 19:32:00 EST (11 lines)
From: "HALPORN,JAMES,CLAS" <halpornj@ucs.indiana.edu>
Subject: NERDS IN TRILLING

(5) Date: Wed, 16 May 90 21:15:32 EDT (8 lines)
From: barry alpher <BJA@CORNELLA.cit.cornell.edu>
Subject: nerd

(6) Date: Thursday, 17 May 1990 00:09:04 EDT (21 lines)
From: "Patrick W. Conner" <U47C2@WVNVM>
Subject: 4.0056 Glom and Doddle (1); Nerds (7).

(7) Date: Thu, 17 May 90 09:09 EST (10 lines)
From: ECF@MCMASTER
Subject: RE: 4.0056 Glom and Doddle (1); Nerds (7).

(1) --------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 16 May 90 15:44:25 PLT
From: Paul Brians <HRC$04@WSUVM1>
Subject: Glom

Scrooge McDuck has a rival named "Flintheart Glomgold."
(2) --------------------------------------------------------------28----
Date: Wed, 16 May 90 22:49 PDT
From: Robert Kirsner (213)825-3955 <IDT1RSK@UCLAMVS.BITNET>
Subject: The Glom, Consolidated Interglom

With respect to 'glom', when used as a noun it is the name of the
intelligent but shapeless beings who attempt to invade Earth in Robert
Sheckley's classic short story 'Shape' in his volume Untouched by Human
Hands.(1954) (The invasion fails because Earth offers the invaders
unlimited Freedom of Shape; the various Glom turn into trees, dogs, and
birds.)

A local listener-sponsored station, KPFK, once had a commedian who
referred to the generic huge corporation as 'Consolidated Interglom'.

Those who were unfamiliar with these uses of the term 'glom' should
enrol in Remedial Cultural Literacy 403A

Next week, kiddies, we shall deal with the phrasal verb BLOB OUT, as in
"The Ex-President spends many hours simply blobbing out in front of the
TV."
(3) --------------------------------------------------------------15----
Date: Wed, 16 May 90 18:14 EST
From: <MSWENSON@IUBACS>
Subject: RE: 4.0056 Glom and Doddle (1); Nerds (7). (98)


I have a perpetually bewildered cat. His name is Uncle Nerdly. He
keeps track of the other two feline friends, Babycakes and Twit. He
seems preoccupied and confused most of the time. Professorish, but
sweet.

Melinda Swenson
Indiana University School of Nursing
(4) --------------------------------------------------------------19----
Date: 16 May 90 19:32:00 EST
From: "HALPORN,JAMES,CLAS" <halpornj@ucs.indiana.edu>
Subject: NERDS IN TRILLING

I must differ with Herb Donow. In the story "Of This Time, Of That
Place," Tertan is crazy (in his thrice-woven circle). There are two
possible nerds in the story (again not so named): my candidate is
Joseph Howe (the archetypical HUMANIST), the other is Blackburn.

Jim Halporn

(5) --------------------------------------------------------------20----
Date: Wed, 16 May 90 21:15:32 EDT
From: barry alpher <BJA@CORNELLA.cit.cornell.edu>
Subject: nerd

/nerd/ is attested in its current meaning at least as early as 1968,
hence before the TV show in question. I heard it in 1960 used to refer
to a hardened droplet of glue squeezed out between two clamped boards:
/a nerd of glue/.
(6) --------------------------------------------------------------29----
Date: Thursday, 17 May 1990 00:09:04 EDT
From: "Patrick W. Conner" <U47C2@WVNVM>
Subject: 4.0056 Glom and Doddle (1); Nerds (7). (98)

Having contributed the earliest nerd in American lit so far (Ichabod
Crane), I shall take the liberty to say more on the subject. Robert
Amsler's reference to OED2 is exactly the right tactic for etymologizing
a word, but I think the OED's wrong on this one. Seuss may have used
the word NERD, but in the context of strange animals to be brought back
to the zoo, I'd want some hard evidence that that's the origin of the
current term. I'm almost certain that the word gained general currency
from the TV show , which Fonzi would have said in real life. Surely the
writers were inventive enough to come up with a word which the actor
could deliver with pure contempt without having to check nonsense words
from Dr. Seuss. Can anyone find a use of NERD denoting any sort of
person which predates the TV show from the mid-seventies (or whenever it
played)? Meanwhile, I shall have to check the variant etymology. It
may be that NERD should have been lemmatized twice in the OED2, once
under NERD, mythical animal; then under NERD, jerk or social dolt.

--Pat Conner
(7) --------------------------------------------------------------29----
Date: Thu, 17 May 90 09:09 EST
From: ECF@MCMASTER
Subject: RE: 4.0056 Glom and Doddle (1); Nerds (7). (98)

From: Elaine Riehm (ECF@McMaster.CA)
Subject: Nerds

Nerds, I was once told, are also what you have left in your pocket when
you have taken everything out.