# "Baby bump" -- new phrase? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 8, 2005, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-bump-new-phrase/334756 "2005-12-08T21:19:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-bump-new-phrase/334756/1 "2005-12-08T21:19:24Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-bump-new-phrase/334756/2 "2005-12-08T21:31:16Z")
What does it mean? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-bump-new-phrase/334756/3 "2005-12-08T21:34:35Z")
Ditto. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-bump-new-phrase/334756/4 "2005-12-08T21:34:52Z")
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!” ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-bump-new-phrase/334756/5 "2005-12-08T21:34:56Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > What does it mean? Pregnant. Perhaps obviously pregnant. Never really heard it before. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-bump-new-phrase/334756/6 "2005-12-08T21:36:55Z")
OTOH, this does argue for “new phrase”… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Martha\_Medea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-bump-new-phrase/334756/7 "2005-12-08T21:39:25Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![TheBoneyKingofNowhere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@TheBoneyKingofNowhere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBoneyKingofNowhere)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-bump-new-phrase/334756/8 "2005-12-08T21:41:25Z")
stupid i’d nominate lump, if it didn’t have cancerous overtones. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-bump-new-phrase/334756/9 "2005-12-08T21:47:45Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-bump-new-phrase/334756/10 "2005-12-08T21:52:39Z")
Haven’t heard the 'bloids use “canoodling,” which is a term I’m fond of myself. (It’s so … onomotopoieic). ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-bump-new-phrase/334756/11 "2005-12-08T22:03:51Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-bump-new-phrase/334756/12 "2005-12-08T23:40:59Z")
I’ve seen this term kicking around for the last year or so, and it annoys the FUCK out of me. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-bump-new-phrase/334756/13 "2005-12-09T00:04:22Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-bump-new-phrase/334756/14 "2005-12-09T00:11:06Z")
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… ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-bump-new-phrase/334756/15 "2005-12-09T08:17:16Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > 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? ---
**Author:** ![sniperfang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@sniperfang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sniperfang)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-bump-new-phrase/334756/16 "2005-12-09T10:08:32Z")
> [@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… Canoodian, more like. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-bump-new-phrase/334756/17 "2005-12-09T12:49:21Z")
> [@1920s Style "Death Ray"](#): > > What the heck are you doing while “canoodling” that makes it onomatopoeic? A lady never canoodles and tells. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-bump-new-phrase/334756/18 "2005-12-09T13:07:49Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-bump-new-phrase/334756/19 "2005-12-09T13:46:11Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > 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”. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-bump-new-phrase/334756/20 "2005-12-09T13:56:25Z")
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!” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-bump-new-phrase/334756.md?page=2)