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blackdog
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 8:06 pm
Post subject: space cadet |
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Is "What a space cadet" a slang? And, what does it mean?
Thanks
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Salvatore Volatile
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 8:06 pm
Post subject: Re: space cadet |
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Armond Perretta wrote:
| Quote: | blackdog wrote:
Is "What a space cadet" a slang? And, what does it mean?
Local (aue) research _may_ show otherwise, but I seem to recall that this
term originated with the "Buck Rogers" phenom. Buck was the hero of (I
believe) a comic book series that later became both a radio and a TV hit.
Was it Buster Crabbe who played Buck on TV? Cannot recall.
Later the term "space cadet" came to signify an individual who was "out
there," one who was either hopelessly naive or considerably out-of-touch
with the prevailing reality.
|
Presumably related to "spaced out" and "spacey", which have similar
meanings, although I wonder whether "spacey" is also influenced by the
"airhead" concept. |
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Salvatore Volatile
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 8:06 pm
Post subject: Re: space cadet |
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Armond Perretta wrote:
| Quote: | Salvatore Volatile wrote:
Armond Perretta wrote:
Later the term "space cadet" came to signify an individual who was
"out there," one who was either hopelessly naive or considerably
out-of-touch with the prevailing reality.
Presumably related to "spaced out" and "spacey", which have similar
meanings, although I wonder whether "spacey" is also influenced by the
"airhead" concept.
Since it is generally agreed that there is no "air" there, I doubt it.
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Perhaps I wasn't clear. I'm suggesting that the idea of one being
"spacey" might refer not to being out in outer space but to the notion of
having space between one's ears instead of a brain.
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Salvatore Volatile
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 8:06 pm
Post subject: Re: space cadet |
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jerry_friedman@yahoo.com wrote:
| Quote: | Armond Perretta wrote:
Later the term "space cadet" came to signify an individual who was "out
there," one who was either hopelessly naive or considerably out-of-touch
with the prevailing reality.
I'll agree with that.
|
Any date for the later sense? Here's a usage from 1978:
"I call them space cadets, they are air headed," said Bouve, who noted
that students on drugs tend to be passive, listless and sleepy and don't
learn anything.
1978 Wash. Post 19 Oct. MD1 |
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Salvatore Volatile
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 8:06 pm
Post subject: Re: space cadet |
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Salvatore Volatile wrote:
| Quote: | jerry_friedman@yahoo.com wrote:
Armond Perretta wrote:
Later the term "space cadet" came to signify an individual who was "out
there," one who was either hopelessly naive or considerably out-of-touch
with the prevailing reality.
I'll agree with that.
Any date for the later sense? Here's a usage from 1978:
"I call them space cadets, they are air headed," said Bouve, who noted
that students on drugs tend to be passive, listless and sleepy and don't
learn anything.
1978 Wash. Post 19 Oct. MD1
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I should add that that's closer to my sense of what the usage is. A
"space cadet" isn't a naive or out-of-touch person -- a space cadet is
more "clueless", generally acting in a dazed or inattentive way, maybe
something like a gender-neutral "ditzy". |
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Armond Perretta
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 8:31 pm
Post subject: Re: space cadet |
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blackdog wrote:
| Quote: | Is "What a space cadet" a slang? And, what does it mean?
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Local (aue) research _may_ show otherwise, but I seem to recall that this
term originated with the "Buck Rogers" phenom. Buck was the hero of (I
believe) a comic book series that later became both a radio and a TV hit.
Was it Buster Crabbe who played Buck on TV? Cannot recall.
Later the term "space cadet" came to signify an individual who was "out
there," one who was either hopelessly naive or considerably out-of-touch
with the prevailing reality.
--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://home.comcast.net/~kerrydeare |
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Lars Eighner
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 8:31 pm
Post subject: Re: space cadet |
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In our last episode,
<1130508379.851743.323430@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com>,
the lovely and talented blackdog
broadcast on alt.usage.english:
| Quote: | Is "What a space cadet" a slang?
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"Slang" is not a countable noun. Yes, "What a space cadet" is
slang.
| Quote: | And, what does it mean?
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"Space cadet" means someone who is absent-minded, not paying
attention, apparently unaware of present events or surroundings,
or not able to perceive the obvious; for example, a person who
asks a question that has just been answered or looks for
something he is holding in his hands.
--
Lars Eighner eighner@io.com http://www.larseighner.com/
I don't see posts from or threads started from googlegroups.
"Show me the books he loves and I shall know the man far better than
through mortal friends." --Dawn Adams |
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blackdog
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 8:40 pm
Post subject: Re: space cadet |
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| Thanks for the information. |
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blackdog
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 8:41 pm
Post subject: Re: space cadet |
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Thank you all. Okay, I should not have added "a".  |
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eromlignod
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 8:52 pm
Post subject: Re: space cadet |
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Armond Perretta wrote:
| Quote: | blackdog wrote:
Is "What a space cadet" a slang? And, what does it mean?
Local (aue) research _may_ show otherwise, but I seem to recall that this
term originated with the "Buck Rogers" phenom. Buck was the hero of (I
believe) a comic book series that later became both a radio and a TV hit.
Was it Buster Crabbe who played Buck on TV? Cannot recall.
Later the term "space cadet" came to signify an individual who was "out
there," one who was either hopelessly naive or considerably out-of-touch
with the prevailing reality.
|
I remember a TV cartoon show in the Sixties called "The Space Cadets".
I believe it was a Hanna-Barbera production. It came on after "Secret
Squirrel", I think.
Does the term pre-date that?
Don
Kansas City |
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Armond Perretta
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 9:37 pm
Post subject: Re: space cadet |
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Salvatore Volatile wrote:
| Quote: | Armond Perretta wrote:
Later the term "space cadet" came to signify an individual who was
"out there," one who was either hopelessly naive or considerably
out-of-touch with the prevailing reality.
Presumably related to "spaced out" and "spacey", which have similar
meanings, although I wonder whether "spacey" is also influenced by the
"airhead" concept.
|
Since it is generally agreed that there is no "air" there, I doubt it.
--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://home.comcast.net/~kerrydeare |
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jerry_friedman@yahoo.com
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 10:58 pm
Post subject: Re: space cadet |
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Armond Perretta wrote:
| Quote: | blackdog wrote:
Is "What a space cadet" a slang? And, what does it mean?
Local (aue) research _may_ show otherwise, but I seem to recall that this
term originated with the "Buck Rogers" phenom.
|
The expression seems to have originated with a juvenile novel by Robert
Heinlein, _Space Cadet_ (1948), about young men training to become
officers of the Space Patrol.
'This juvenile novel inspired Joseph Lawrence Greene of Grosset and
Dunlap to develop the _Tom Corbett, Space Cadet_ television series,
radio show, comic strip, and comic books that were popular in the early
1950s. Greene had originally submitted a radio script for "Tom Ranger"
and the "Space Cadets" on January 16, 1946, but it remained unperformed
when Heinlein's novel was published.'
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Cadet>
| Quote: | Buck was the hero of (I
believe) a comic book series that later became both a radio and a TV hit.
Was it Buster Crabbe who played Buck on TV? Cannot recall.
|
Buster Crabbe (billed as Larry "Buster" Crabbe) played Buck in the 1939
serial adapted from the comic strip, according to IMDB. Apparently,
Crabbe had earlier played Flash Gordon in serials, though the comic
strip Flash Gordon was started after Buck Rogers, to compete. One
could get confused.
There was a short-lived TV series. IMDB again:
"Credited cast:
Kem Dibbs .... Buck Rogers (4-15-1950 to 6-3-1950)
Robert Pastene .... Buck Rogers (6-10-50 to 1-30-51)"
| Quote: | Later the term "space cadet" came to signify an individual who was "out
there," one who was either hopelessly naive or considerably out-of-touch
with the prevailing reality.
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I'll agree with that.
--
Jerry Friedman |
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R H Draney
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 11:17 pm
Post subject: Re: space cadet |
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blackdog filted:
| Quote: |
Is "What a space cadet" a slang? And, what does it mean?
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Former California governor Jerry Brown, aka "Governor Moonbeam"....r |
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jerry_friedman@yahoo.com
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 11:38 pm
Post subject: Re: space cadet |
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Salvatore Volatile wrote:
| Quote: | Armond Perretta wrote:
Salvatore Volatile wrote:
Armond Perretta wrote:
Later the term "space cadet" came to signify an individual who was
"out there," one who was either hopelessly naive or considerably
out-of-touch with the prevailing reality.
Presumably related to "spaced out" and "spacey", which have similar
meanings, although I wonder whether "spacey" is also influenced by the
"airhead" concept.
Since it is generally agreed that there is no "air" there, I doubt it.
Perhaps I wasn't clear. I'm suggesting that the idea of one being
"spacey" might refer not to being out in outer space but to the notion of
having space between one's ears instead of a brain.
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Earth to Sal: "spacey" is about being in outer space.
--
Jerry Friedman |
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Ted Schuerzinger
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2005 12:07 am
Post subject: Re: space cadet |
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Somebody claiming to be "Armond Perretta"
<newsgroupreader@REMOVEcomcast.net> wrote in
news:4tadnRDMoe-uq__eRVn-og@comcast.com:
| Quote: | blackdog wrote:
Is "What a space cadet" a slang? And, what does it mean?
Local (aue) research _may_ show otherwise, but I seem to recall that
this term originated with the "Buck Rogers" phenom. Buck was the
hero of (I believe) a comic book series that later became both a
radio and a TV hit. Was it Buster Crabbe who played Buck on TV?
Cannot recall.
|
Gil Gerard in the 80s; there may have been earlier versions that I can't
be bothered to look up at the moment.
Then there was Duck Dodgers in the 24th-1/2 Century.... :-)
--
Ted <fedya at bestweb dot net>
Oh Marge, anyone can miss Canada, all tucked away down there....
--Homer Simpson |
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