# Word usage question: "freak" **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-usage-question-freak/195702 **Category:** Factual Questions **Created:** [August 17, 2003, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-usage-question-freak/195702 "2003-08-17T03:01:15Z") **Posts on this page:** 4 **Page:** 1
### Author: ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo) #### Post date: [August 17, 2003, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-usage-question-freak/195702/1 "2003-08-17T03:01:15Z")
Driving home tonight, listening to _Valley Girl_ started me wondering: was “freak” used as a verb prior to the 1960s? ---
### Author: ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker) #### Post date: [August 17, 2003, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-usage-question-freak/195702/2 "2003-08-17T03:05:10Z")
Merriam-Webster dates it to 1965. ---
### Author: ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo) #### Post date: [August 17, 2003, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-usage-question-freak/195702/3 "2003-08-17T03:07:10Z")
That fits. Thanks. ---
### Author: ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c) #### Post date: [August 18, 2003, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-usage-question-freak/195702/4 "2003-08-18T04:32:14Z")
I thought it went back a lot longer. This is all I can find right now… [http://www.historyhouse.com/in\_history/nitrous\_two/](http://www.historyhouse.com/in_history/nitrous_two/) The cites quotes 1844 docs that describes drugged out behavior as “the freaks of the subjects.”