chug

chug¹ sound of an engine

Etymology

The word for the dull sound of an engine is imitative,^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]} originally of the plunging, pumping or explosive noise of a working steam engine.^[9][10][2] The OED compares glug and jug, other words imitating a sound.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates the verb sense of moving or working with chugs to 1848.^[3] The OED's earliest record is the noun for a step in dancing, in the Cleveland Herald of 1849, and then the noun for a dull explosive noise, in 1851.^[2] Barnhart and Etymonline date the noun to 1866,^[10][9] and Dictionary.com to 1865–70, as an Americanism.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The noise of steam engines, and later of internal-combustion engines, gave the word its main sense;^[9][4] the verb, to make such a noise, is recorded from 1856,^[2] though Etymonline dates it to 1884 and Barnhart to 1896.^[9][10] From 1908 a machine could be said to chug something along, and a driver to chug a car with its engine running slowly.^[2] In North America anglers used the verb from 1882 for fishing in deep water with a line,^[2] and in the 20th century for moving a lure with a lively motion on the surface (1941).^[2] Since the 1960s musicians have used it for the steady, bass-heavy rhythm of rock guitar played with muted strings.^[2]

Timeline

• 1848 – to move or work with chugging sounds.^[3]
• 1849 – noun, a dance step.^[2]
• 1851 – a dull plunging or explosive noise, as of an engine.^[2] Barnhart and Etymonline date this sense to 1866.^[10][9]
• 1856 – to make such a noise, especially in a steady rhythm.^[2]
• 1882 – in North American angling, to fish in deep water with a line.^[2]
• 1908 – transitive, to drive or propel something with a chugging noise.^[2]
• 1960 – in music, to play a steady, bass-heavy rhythm.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A short, dull, explosive sound, especially one that is repeated, as of a laboring engine.^[5][3][2]
2. (music) A steady, heavy bass rhythm in rock music, played on a distorted guitar with muted strings.^[2]

Verb

1. Of an engine, to run while making such sounds: The old tractor chugged in the yard.^[5][3][2]
2. To move along with such sounds, or as if with them: The ferry chugged across the bay.^[3][2][4]
3. To drive or propel something with a chugging motion.^[2]
4. (music) To play or have a steady, heavy bass rhythm.^[2]

Word family

• chugger

chug² drink quickly

Etymology

The word for drinking quickly is a shortening from English of chugalug,^[3][6][11] itself imitative.^[6][3] Etymonline and the OED treat this sense instead as imitative of the sound of swallowing.^[9][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To swallow a drink, especially an alcoholic one, quickly in large gulps: 1952, in Four Quarters, a magazine of La Salle College.^[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates it to 1958,^[3] and Etymonline finds the drinking sense by the 1940s, in chug-a-lug.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The verb began as American colloquial speech, especially on college campuses, where a chugging contest is a drinking competition.^[2][11] A noun for a quick gulp or a bout of fast drinking followed in 1962, first in a United States Army infantry magazine.^[2]

Timeline

• 1952 – to swallow a drink quickly in large gulps.^[2]
• 1962 – noun, an act of drinking quickly; a large gulp.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To drink something, especially beer, quickly in large gulps, often without pausing: He chugged a can of soda after the match.^{[5][3][2][11]}

Noun

1. An act of drinking quickly, or a large gulp.^[2]