In this week’s column, Cecil (correctly,
of course) attributes the origin of the
word “Jeep” partly to E.C. Segar, author
of the Thimble Theater comic strip (home
of Popeye, Olive Oyl, Wimpy, et al.)
Segar also introduced the word “goon” to
the language. Alice the Goon was a huge
“thing” enslaved by the Sea Hag, who used
Alice to try to dispose of Popeye. The word
was adopted to mean a hired thug.
Is there any evidence that the word “wimp”
comes from J. Wellington Wimpy in the same
comic strip?
Dictionary of Word Origins says “The first record of the word wimp ‘feeble ineffectual person’ is from as long ago as 1920” so unless Wimpy was existant, and popular enough to make the connection recognizable, 9-10 years before Popeye, I doubt that’s the origin.
I would almost guess the reverse for wimp/impy/Wimpy. I could easily see Segar picking the burger guy’s name to quickly establish a personality.
Similarly, goon existed before Segar’s use as a word for a large, unintelligent, person. My guess would be that Segar used the word as a name to immediately imply the lack of intelligence and great strength of the character. When he used the character in an “enforcer” role, the meaning in the public usage shifted to include the other sinister qualities (of being a stooge for an evil master/organization) that we now associate with it.
Okay, so we’ve found that “wimp” predates Popeye’s introduction by 9 years. Popeye, however, was introduced into an existing strip (Thimble Theater?.) Is it possible that Wimpy existed in the strip as far back as 1920?