"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.
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.
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