# Origins of the Term 'Poindexter'.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-the-term-poindexter/257340>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 28, 2004, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-the-term-poindexter/257340 "2004-07-28T23:13:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-the-term-poindexter/257340/1 "2004-07-28T23:13:15Z")

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Where did the term _“poindexter”_ originate? I first heard it on FOX’s _The Simpsons_, and it apparently means _nerd_ or _bookish person_. 🙂

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**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-the-term-poindexter/257340/2 "2004-07-28T23:25:42Z")

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> [@Jim B.](#):
>
> Where did the term _“poindexter”_ originate? I first heard it on FOX’s _The Simpsons_, and it apparently means _nerd_ or _bookish person_. 🙂

[http://www.wordorigins.org/wordorp.htm#poindexter](http://www.wordorigins.org/wordorp.htm#poindexter) has this to say about it:

> [@](#):
>
> Poindexter has been an American slang term for an egghead or nerd for decades, but how did the name come to be associated with really smart people. The answer is cartoons. The cartoon character Felix the Cat, creation of Otto Messmer, made his screen debut in 1919, making him one of the most venerable animated characters in existence.
> 
> In 1958, Felix made his television debut and for the TV series Felix’s new animator, Joe Oriolo, introduced a number of new characters and foils for Felix. Among these were Felix’s archnemesis The Professor and his brainy nephew, Poindexter. Allegedly, Oriolo named Poindexter after his lawyer. The popularity of the cartoon ensured that the name Poindexter would be forever associated with intelligence.

Which begs the question of why Oriolo named the character “Poindexter”. Either he was drawing on an earlier association, or he just thought it sounded funny, I suppose.

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**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2004, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-the-term-poindexter/257340/3 "2004-07-29T00:00:46Z")

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> [@yabob](#):
>
> [http://www.wordorigins.org/wordorp.htm#poindexter](http://www.wordorigins.org/wordorp.htm#poindexter) has this to say about it:
> 
> Which begs the question of why Oriolo named the character “Poindexter”. Either he was drawing on an earlier association, or he just thought it sounded funny, I suppose.

I’m not sure you need to have known a previous Poindexter to think of it as brainy.

I had never known of H. McCoy Van Devender before I met one. With no history whatever about the name, I and those around him always though of him as coming from a family with an estate, limos, maids, butlers, dressing for dinner, etc. Actually he could have lived in a lean-to with a mud floor, but I doubt it.