boob-tube

Origin

boob tube

noun Informal.

Origin:
1965–70; rhyming coinage, from the notion that television programming is foolish, induces foolishness, or is watched by foolish people
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To boob-tube

00:10

00:09

00:08

00:07

00:06

00:05

00:04

00:03

00:02

00:01

Boob-tube is always a great word to know.
So is ort. Does it mean:
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

boob tube
"television set," U.S. slang, mid-1960s, from boob "stupid person" + slang tube "television, television programming," because the sets really did have vacuum tubes in them once upon a time.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary

boob-tube definition

[ˈbubˈtub]
  1. n.
    a television set. (Something for a boobto watch.) : You spend too much time in front of the boob-tube.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature
FAVORITES
RECENT