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Origin and history of wonk

wonk(n.)

"overly studious person," 1962, earlier "effeminate male" (1954), American English student slang. Perhaps a shortening of British slang wonky "shaky, unreliable," or a variant of British slang wanker "masturbator."

It seems to have risen from Ivy League slang into currency late 1980s as a synonym for nerd, and as such was popularized 1993 during the presidency of Bill Clinton. Tom Wolfe (1988) described it as "an Eastern prep-school term referring to all those who do not have the 'honk' voice, i.e., all who are non-aristocratic."

also from 1962

Entries linking to wonk

wanker(n.)

1940s, "masturbator," British slang, from wank "to masturbate," of unknown origin. General sense of "contemptible person" is attested from 1972. Compare sense evolution of jerk (n.).

wonky(adj.)

"shaky, groggy, unstable," 1919, of unknown origin. German prefix wankel- has a similar sense. Perhaps it is from surviving dialectal words based on Old English wancol "shaky, tottering" (see wench (n.)).

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    Trends of wonk

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

    More to explore

    grind
    Old English grindan "to rub together, crush into powder, grate, scrape," forgrindan "destroy by crushing" (class III strong verb; past tense grand, past participle grunden), from Proto-Germanic *grindanan (source also of Dutch grenden), related to ground (v.), from PIE *ghrendh-
    rend
    Middle English renden "tear a hole in, slash from top to bottom, separate in parts with force or sudden violence," from Old English rendan, hrendan "to tear, cut down," from Proto-West Germanic *rendan (source also of Old Frisian renda "to cut, break," Middle Low German rende "an
    dern
    "secret, hidden," from Old English derne (West Saxon dierne) "concealed, secret, dark," from West Germanic *darnjaz (source also of Old Saxon derni, Old Frisian dern "concealed, dark," Old High German tarni "secret, concealed, veiled"), related to dark (adj.). Archaic or poetic o
    scholar
    Middle English scolere, from Old English scolere "student, one who receives instruction in a school, one who learns from a teacher," from Medieval Latin scholaris, "a pupil, scholar," noun use of Late Latin scholaris "of a school," from Latin schola (see school (n.1), and compare
    keep
    Middle English kēpen, from late Old English cepan (past tense cepte) "to seize, hold; seek after, desire," also "to observe or carry out in practice; look out for, regard, pay attention to," from Proto-Germanic *kopjan, which is of uncertain origin. Old English cepan was used c.
    Mississippi
    originally the name of the river, from the French rendering of an Algonquian name (French missionaries first penetrated the river valley in its upper reaches) meaning "big river;" compare Ojibwa mshi- "big," ziibi "river." Organized as a U.S. territory 1798; admitted as a state 1
    athlete
    early 15c. (Chauliac), "competitor in athletic games and contests," from Latin athleta "a wrestler, athlete, combatant in public games," from Greek athlētēs "prizefighter, contestant in the games," agent noun from athlein "to contest for a prize," which from athlos "a contest," e
    concord
    early 14c., "agreement between persons, union in opinions or sentiment, state of mutual friendship, amiability," from Old French concorde (12c.) "concord, harmony, agreement, treaty," from Latin concordia "agreement, union," from concors (genitive concordis) "of the same mind," l
    culture
    mid-15c., "the tilling of land, act of preparing the earth for crops," from Latin cultura "a cultivating, agriculture," figuratively "care, culture, an honoring," from past participle stem of colere "to tend, guard; to till, cultivate" (see colony). Meaning "the cultivation or re
    alien
    c. 1300, "strange, foreign," from Old French alien "strange, foreign;" as a noun, "an alien, stranger, foreigner," from Latin alienus "of or belonging to another, not one's own, foreign, strange," also, as a noun, "a stranger, foreigner," adjective from alius (adv.) "another, oth

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