blurb English · revision 1613

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /blɝ(ː)b/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It was coined by the American humorist Gelett Burgess (1866–1951),^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(RHWU) who popularized it in 1907.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995) Etymonline notes an earlier use by the scholar Brander Matthews in 1906^(Etymonline) and calls the word probably derisively imitative.^(Etymonline) Burgess joked in 1907 that “to blurb is to make a sound like a publisher”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A short commendatory description of a book printed on its jacket (1914).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word began as mockery of the excessive praise printed on book jackets.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995) It soon lost its satirical edge and became the ordinary term for any short promotional notice,^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) and a verb, “to praise in a blurb”, followed in 1915.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1906 – used by Brander Matthews.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1907 – popularized by Gelett Burgess.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1914 – a publisher's commendatory notice on a book jacket.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1915 – verb, to describe or praise in a blurb.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A short [[promotional]] description, as on a [[book jacket]], usually full of praise.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To describe or praise in a blurb.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[blurbist]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}