"Baby bump" -- new phrase?

[twickster]

I really don't think I've ever heard the expression until the last couple of months. It's a wonderful bit of jargon -- immediately meaningful -- and it now seems ubiquitous, between Jennifer Garner (now, of course, divested of hers), Katie Holmes and Gwynneth Paltrow, etc.

Has the phrase been around longer and I just suddenly noticed it, or is it really an '05 coinage?

[Sunspace]

What does it mean?

[Ethilrist]

Ditto.

[twickster]

So much for "immediately meaningful" :smack:

It refers to the slight bump in a woman's stomach when she's a couple of months pregnant -- showing, but just barely.

In the tabloids (which, of course, I have only the most distant of relationships with), it is used both for confirmed an unconfirmed pregnancies -- e.g., "Check out this pic of Starlet X, who denies being preggers -- sure looks like a baby bump to us!"

[nivlac]

What does it mean?
Pregnant. Perhaps obviously pregnant. Never really heard it before.

[twickster]

OTOH, this does argue for "new phrase"... ;)

[Martha Medea]

In Britspeak at least it's been around for ages. When I used it with an American friend a couple of years ago she expressed similar surprise.

[TheBoneyKingofNowhere]

stupid

i'd nominate lump, if it didn't have cancerous overtones.

[gigi]

It seems to be relatively new (within the last year or so) around US gossip mags, along with "canoodling". Boy I hate both of those terms!

BUMP WATCH! accompanied by a medium-pregnant starlet.

[twickster]

Haven't heard the 'bloids use "canoodling," which is a term I'm fond of myself. (It's so ... onomotopoieic).

[Hilarity N. Suze]

First reference I saw to it was in, I believe, US magazine, referring to Apple Paltrow (or whatever her last name is) as "Secret Bump of the Year!"

So whenever that was...Dec. 2003? (Obviously it was around before that, that is the first time I personally noticed the usage.) Never heard anyone actually utter this phrase, it seems to be just a magazine thing.

[Smeghead]

I've seen this term kicking around for the last year or so, and it annoys the FUCK out of me.

[Barbarian]

I've been hearing it for years in NYC and Vancouver. Always immediately obvious, since you're talking about a young woman at the time, eg. Look at her with the baby bump.

[Sunspace]

Well, I loathe the cult of celebrity, and actively avoid gossip magazines and such, so it's no wonder I haven't seen these expression.

"Canoodling"? I bet that one wasn't created by a Canadian...

[Richard Pearse]

Haven't heard the 'bloids use "canoodling," which is a term I'm fond of myself. (It's so ... onomotopoieic).

What the heck are you doing while "canoodling" that makes it onomatopoeic?

[sniperfang]

Well, I loathe the cult of celebrity, and actively avoid gossip magazines and such, so it's no wonder I haven't seen these expression.
"Canoodling"? I bet that one wasn't created by a Canadian...

Canoodian, more like.

[twickster]

What the heck are you doing while "canoodling" that makes it onomatopoeic?

A lady never canoodles and tells. ;)

[AngelicGemma]

I've used the phrase 'baby bump' for as long as I can remember. I use it for all pregnant ladies though, not just those a few months along.

[Bear_Nenno]

I've seen this term kicking around for the last year or so, and it annoys the FUCK out of me.It's about as annoying as "preggers".

[jjimm]

During the 1960s, my friend's dad was arrested at a huge party in Glasgow, in the largest mass arrest in Scottish history. According to my friend's dad, the arresting officer told the judge in evidence that the hundreds of defendants were "jumping around and canoodling".

The judge replied "if they were jumping around, then they could not have been canoodling, and if they were canoodling they could not have been jumping around. Case dismissed!"

[Richard Pearse]

A lady never canoodles and tells. ;)

No of course not, I thought you might though :D

Kidding, kidding, I nearly got into a lot of trouble with a girl once when I implied she wasn't a lady. I only avoided a prolonged icy stare by going on to say that she was a woman, she seemed to prefer that for some reason.

[Mouse_Maven]

If there's a "bump" why do the tabloids assume the person is pregnant? Maybe she's got a stomach like most people. Maybe the starlet ate a big meal. Gods forbid!

Any famous guys with baby bumps? As researcher, that would get my attention.

[Nimue]

Bump is pretty common in Britain as far as I'm aware. My MIL (Scottish) sent a present addressed to "the baby bump" well before it was due.

[Cliffy]

It seems to be relatively new (within the last year or so) around US gossip mags, along with "canoodling". Boy I hate both of those terms!
I love the word "canoodle." It was something that no one but us word nerds used to use, but I think it entered the popular idiom when Angelina Jolie and her brother spent the entire Oscar telecast canoodling, and the popular media picked up the term to describe it -- no other word was so perfect.

--Cliffy

[Spatial Rift 47]

See, "baby bump" to me suggests a young bump. I suppose I could get used to it though.

Ditto to Bear_Nenno, it's a stupid word and we don't need it. "Pregnant" still works just fine.

As for canoodling, I rather like that one. It implies a giddy sense of fun that IMO should always be a part of The Act.


What the heck are you doing while "canoodling" that makes it onomatopoeic?

Use your imagination. ;)

[Amaranta]

If there's a "bump" why do the tabloids assume the person is pregnant? Maybe she's got a stomach like most people. Maybe the starlet ate a big meal. Gods forbid!


Because "Starlet PMSing and quite bloated! Pics inside!" sells fewer papers than "Young unmarried starlet knocked up!! Guess the daddy, pics inside!"?

[Trunk]

I'd rather call it "brat fat".

"tumid tummy"

"ab-flab"

[Elza B]

It's about as annoying as "preggers".

If one more person calls me 'preggers' or 'preggo', I might fly into a hormone-induced rage and hurt them.

Bump only bothers me like it bothers me when we steal all kinds of phrases from the Brits. Of course, ElzaHub and I have picked up a ton of Britspeak after the enormous amount of BBC America and EastEnders we watch, so we probably can't complain - not when we're talking about 'quid' and 'wonky' and 'wankers' and 'can't be arsed'. :D

E.

[Mouse_Maven]

Because "Starlet PMSing and quite bloated! Pics inside!" sells fewer papers than "Young unmarried starlet knocked up!! Guess the daddy, pics inside!"?

:D Good point!

[butler1850]

Makes sense to call it a baby bump.

After all, I certainly called Mrs. Butler "bumped up" when I got her pregnant with the Butlerette.