couch potato

English

WOTD – 23 March 2010, 23 March 2011

Etymology

From couch + potato; coined by Tom Iacino in 1976 as a pun on boob tuber (from boob tube (“television”) and tuber (“potato”)); trademarked by Robert Armstrong from 1976–91.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkaʊtʃ pəˌteɪtəʊ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): [ˈkʰäʊ̯t͡ʃ pʰəˌtʰeɪ̯ɾoʊ̯]

  • Audio (General American):

    (file)

• (Australia) IPA^(key): /ˈkæɔtʃ pəˌtæɪtəʉ/

  • Audio (Australia):

    (file)

Noun

couch potato (plural couch potatoes)

1. (idiomatic, somewhat derogatory) A person who spends a lot of time sitting or lying down, often watching television, eating snacks or drinking alcohol. [from 1976]

   Synonym: See also Thesaurus:idler

   Being a couch potato won't let you help achieve your goals.

   Bah! What lesson can a couch potato father teach his kids!

Derived terms

• couch-potatoey
• desk potato
• mouse potato

Descendants

• → Japanese: カウチポテト

Translations

person

• Afrikaans: sofapokkel
• Arabic: خَامِل m (ḵāmil)
• Armenian: մեշոկ (mešok)
• Czech: pecivál (cs) m, gaučák m
• Dutch: bankhanger m
• Finnish: sohvaperuna (fi)
• French: avachi (fr), légume (fr), pantouflard (fr), (Quebec) télézard (fr)
• German: Nichtstuer (de) m, Stubenhocker (de) m, Couchpotato (de) m or f
• Icelandic: sófakartafla f
• Italian: divanista m or f
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian: sofagris m
• Polish: kanapowy leń m
• Russian: лежебо́ка (ru) m or f (ležebóka), си́день (ru) m (sídenʹ), лентя́й (ru) m (lentjáj), безде́льник (ru) m (bezdélʹnik), домосе́д (ru) m (domoséd)
• Spanish: casero (es) m
• Swedish: soffliggare (sv) c, soffpotatis (sv) c

See also

• lazy

References

• Allan A. Metcalf, "Predicting New Words: The Secrets of Their Success" (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2004) →ISBN pp.129-134.