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You are here: Home / Language / Where does the word “Rubberneck” come from and What does Rubberneck mean?

Where does the word “Rubberneck” come from and What does Rubberneck mean?

February 8, 2020 by Karen Hill

As Mencken has so amply documented, Americans are well known for their adroitness in coining a catchy and appropriate phrase, yet they seem to have been a little slow in connecting the elasticity of caoutchouc with the craning of the overcurious.

Rubber, as a contraction of India rubber, first appeared in print at least as early as 1788, but it was over a century later, in 1896, before rubberneck did so.

To be sure, it was probably known in the spoken language a little sooner, but Americans also have the practice of publishing their catchy phrases soon after they are coined, so very little additional age can be assigned this colorful term for a snooper.

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Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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