# O.K., Poindexter, answer this! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 22, 2004, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-k-poindexter-answer-this/270576 "2004-10-22T08:15:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-k-poindexter-answer-this/270576/1 "2004-10-22T08:15:01Z")
Where does the slang appellation “Poindexter” come from? It is used to put somebody down, put them in there place, or suggest that they are being foolish, but it is not harsh or offensive. I don’t hear it all that often, but I hear it once in a while and have been hearing it all my life. When it first came into used was there a specific person named Poindexter to whom it was a reference? ---
**Author:** ![Cillasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@Cillasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cillasi)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-k-poindexter-answer-this/270576/2 "2004-10-22T08:26:05Z")
I don’t know if it originated here, but Poindexter was a cartoon character in Felix the Cat who wore big glasses and was a brainiac. The phrase “ok Poindexter” is usually used to alert someone that they are talking above their audience’s head, giving too much technical information, or otherwise explaining far beyond what is necessary to get their point across. It’s also a name given to the geeky kid in school who is brainy but socially inept. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-k-poindexter-answer-this/270576/3 "2004-10-22T09:39:58Z")
I always thought it referred to the US general John Poindexter. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-k-poindexter-answer-this/270576/4 "2004-10-22T09:42:45Z")
It seems that Poindexter is a name given to nerdy characters. Arnold Poindexter was without a doubt the biggest nerd in the movie _Revenge of the Nerds_. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-k-poindexter-answer-this/270576/5 "2004-10-22T10:02:53Z")
I think Cillasi is right, and this website: [http://www.wordorigins.org/wordorp.htm](http://www.wordorigins.org/wordorp.htm) agrees with me. I point out that “Felix the Cat” predates “Revenge of the Nerds” by some decades. I also think the slang use of the term predates public awareness of John Poindexter, which was during the Iran/Contra Scandal around 1986. Another word origin story rooted in cartoons is the slang word nimrod, meaning thick-headed or idiotic. How did the name of a mighty hunter come to mean an idiot? Bugs Bunny applied it ironically to Elmer Fudd. Cool huh? ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-k-poindexter-answer-this/270576/6 "2004-10-22T16:15:52Z")
If memory serves, the Barbie boardgame of the late 50’s (the precursor to Mystery Date, or perhaps a knockoff) had four “dates” you could end up with. One was Poindexter, who was supposedly a nerdy “dud” (as opposed to a “dream”), though my brother and I thought he was the best-looking of the lot. Blurry picture here: [http://www.aardwolfgames.com/images/contents/2598cont.jpg](http://www.aardwolfgames.com/images/contents/2598cont.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-k-poindexter-answer-this/270576/7 "2004-10-22T16:36:49Z")
Wasn’t there a nerdy, scientific “Pointdexter” in the Felix the Cat" strip beginning in the early 1900’s which predates even Sylvester’s note? > [@](#): > > Poindexter > Poindexter is a character in the fictional Felix the Cat universe. He is the nephew of the Professor, the arch-nemesis of Felix. > Poindexter is very intelligent, and always wears thick glasses, a lab coat, and a mortarboard. He helps his bumbling uncle concoct elaborate schemes to get Felix and capture his Magic Bag. > > The character was very popular, and today the term “Poindexter” is applied to people who are overly nerdy or bookish. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-k-poindexter-answer-this/270576/8 "2004-10-22T16:41:19Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Wasn’t there a nerdy, scientific “Pointdexter” in the Felix the Cat" strip beginning in the early 1900’s which predates even Sylvester’s note? Never mind, I see in reading the Poindexter character was introducted in 1959-1960 so he may or may not predate Sylvester’s characteization. If both are referencing it, it’s possible there may be some popular adventure character in early 1900’s literature that forms the basis for this character(ization). ---
**Author:** ![Scarface\_Z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Scarface\_Z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarface_Z)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-k-poindexter-answer-this/270576/9 "2004-10-22T16:53:50Z")
> [@Greg Charles](#): > > Another word origin story rooted in cartoons is the slang word nimrod, meaning thick-headed or idiotic. How did the name of a mighty hunter come to mean an idiot? Bugs Bunny applied it ironically to Elmer Fudd. Cool huh? not to get too far off topic but nimrod was a giant from the bible. i believe equating nimrod with stupid came around in the middle ages when giants were thought to be stupid, big oafs. i think… ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-k-poindexter-answer-this/270576/10 "2004-10-22T18:39:13Z")
> [@Scarface Z](#): > > not to get too far off topic but nimrod was a giant from the bible. i believe equating nimrod with stupid came around in the middle ages when giants were thought to be stupid, big oafs. i think… \ I swear, I don’t even know why I post here. Everything I say is instantly contradicted. Do you bother to check a [dictionary](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=Nimrod) first? No! [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimrod)? Obviously not. How about cracking that Bible open? Try Genesis 10:9 “He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord.” There are online Bibles. Lots of them! Searchable! \ OK, I grant you that the Bugs Bunny/Nimrod theory is not exactly proven, but the [Word Detective](http://word-detective.com/100699.html#assassinnimrod) thinks it’s true, so unless Cecil himself comes along to contradict, I choose to believe it! Greg P.S. What do we think of giants now in our more enlightened times? ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/o-k-poindexter-answer-this/270576/11 "2004-10-22T19:21:43Z")
> [@](#): > > P.S. What do we think of giants now in our more enlightened times? We give them sneaker endorsement contracts. And occasionally rap albums, but we usually all try and forget that unpleasantness ever happened.