* First used in Dr. Seuss’s book If I Ran the Zoo, 1950 as the name of an imaginary animal.
And then, just to show them, I’ll sail to Katroo And bring back an It-Kutch, a Preep and a Proo, A Nerkle, a Nerd and a Seersucker too!
* Possibly from Mortimer Snerd, the name of Edgar Bergen’s ventriloquist dummy. * Possibly from the acronym N.E.R.D. on the pocket protectors of employees of the company Northern Electric Research and Developments; it should be noted, however, that speculative etymologies based on acronyms are almost always false (such as “port out, starboard home” for “posh” and “to insure promptness” for “tip”) and are known as backronyms. * Possibly a pronunciation of the word “drunk” spelled in reverse (“knurd”), used to mean a person who does not drink at parties; however, this seems somewhat contrived.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-12 04:20 pm (UTC)Переводить следует в зависимости от контекста: "ботаник", "лох" и т.д.