Driving home tonight, listening to Valley Girl started me wondering: was “freak” used as a verb prior to the 1960s?
Merriam-Webster dates it to 1965.
That fits. Thanks.
I thought it went back a lot longer. This is all I can find right now…
http://www.historyhouse.com/in_history/nitrous_two/
The cites quotes 1844 docs that describes drugged out behavior as “the freaks of the subjects.”