This is a very 20thcentury word—something that would have baffled Charles Dickens if he had ever seen it.
The Oxford says that ‘zapped’ first appeared in 1942 as an American slang word meaning ‘To kill, esp. with a gun; to deal a sudden blow to.’
But the earliest citation they have is from a dictionary of American slang—so the term was probably around well before 1942.
And the great William Safire, in one of his language columns for The New York Times says that ‘zapped’ was coined by Philip Francis Nowlan (1888-1940), an American science fiction writer.
He created the character of Buck Rogers—a man of our time who was thrust forward into the 25th century, where he had endless futuristic adventures.
He created Buck Rogers in a novella published in the August 1928 issue of the science fiction magazine Amazing Stories.
He then teamed up with artist Dick Calkins to create the ‘Buck Rogers’ comic strip that appeared in many newspapers around the world and even continued well after his death (with other writers taking over).
The ‘Buck Rogers in the 25th Century’ daily comic strip continued ran from 1929 to 1967.
It generated spin-offs in the form of radio and television series.
In the comic strip whenever a ray gun was fired the word that was printed over the flash from the ray gun was the word ‘Zap!’
And that appears to be where and how Philip Francis Nowlan created the verb ‘to zap.’
Over the years the word went on developing new meanings.
For instance, from 1975 it was used to mean cooking food in a microwave.
So next time you say, ‘I’ll just zap this in the microwave’ you are quoting an old science fiction comic strip!
Tonight I will join John Stanley for 'The Word Clinic' on 2GB, 4BC, 2CC and the Tapt Radio Network -- right after the 10pm news (9pm in Queensland). This is your chance to join the conversation, to call or text with your comment or question about language. I'd like to hear from you!
FOR A FREE SUBSCRIPTION TO THE DAILY NEWSLETTER SCOLL FURTHER DOWN THIS PAGE >>>>>>
BOOKS:
* My latest book is called Pray Like This. To look at prayer I do what I do in these Ozword columns: I go through the most famous prayer in the world (The Lord’s Prayer, also known as the Our Father) and unpack it word by word—each chapter being a short word-study on a key word in that prayer. There is a total of 21 words studies in all. To find out more, here’s a link to the publisher’s website (where you can buy a copy if you wish): Pray Like This – matthiasmedia.com.au
* My book is Sherlock Holmes: 5-Minute Mysteries -- containing 50 new stories I have written about the great detective. You can find it on Amazon. Just go to Amazon and type in Sherlock Holmes: 5-Minute Mysteries in the search panel. Or use this link: h Amazon.com.au : Sherlock Holmes 5-Minute Mysteries Kel Richards
* My book "Defending the Gospel" is now in a second, fully revised, edition. You can find it here: Defending the Gospel – matthiasmedia.com.au
* If you're looking for my recent book "Flash Jim" you'll find it here -- Flash Jim, The astonis
hing story of the convict fraudster who wrote Australia's first dictionary by Kel Richards | 9781460759769 | Booktopia
* You can find all Kel's books currently in print here -- Booktopia Search Results for 'kel richards'. We sell books, hardback, paperback, audio, CDs.
* And also here -- Amazon.com.au : Kel Richards
* And you'll find more here -- Search: 4 results found for "Kel Richards" – matthiasmedia.com.au
* Many of Kel's out of print books can be found at ABE Books -- Kel Richards - AbeBooks explaining words explain the term
BY THE WAY...
If you'd like to see my A-Z list of Aussie slang, you'll find it here in the Australian Geographic website -- A-Z list of Aussie slang. Here’s the link: The A-Z of Aussie slang - Australian Geographic
The liveliest part of this website is usually the Q and A page -- be sure to check it out from time to time.
