Origin of a Species

IMPORTANT IRONIC Question of the Day: Did a Dartmouth graduate create the first nerd? The first citation in the Oxford English Dictionary says that the term "is of uncertain origin sometimes

taken as a euphemistic alteration of turd." However, a second citation by a certain L. Gold contradicts the first. Gold cites Dr. Seuss, a.k.a. Theodor Geisel '25, as the source for the term thathas come to mean "an insignificant or contemptible person, one who is conventional, affected, or studious." The reference is the 1950 Seuss classic If I Ran the Zoo, page 46: "I'll sail to Ka-Troo andBringBackanlt-kutch, a Preep and a Proo, a Nerkle, a Nerd, and a Seersucker, too."

No, the Doctor did not originate the seersucker. That species had already been invented at Yale, one should think.