Seattle, WA 98104. 705 2nd Ave, Suite 300 Washington Trails Association Today's burning question: what's the origin of the word, "the world record for eating trail mix American hikers also know it as trail mix. Select your currency from the list and click Donate. Given this is an acronym, perhaps the origin is spurious? All rights reserved. A possible link is obvious enough, though a direct connection isn’t recorded and etymologists have to be cautious. It sounds as though the writer confused the foodstuff with a fruit-flavoured powder such as Kool-Aid, and thereby created another version of the folk etymology, but who knows? Subscribe to our free email newsletter for hiking events, news, gear reviews and more. In turn, that word may one form of an older English verb variously spelled as gaup, gawp, gorp, gowp, gawk, or gauk. Other words sites Affixes dictionary. Incidentally, Australians and New Zealanders would prefer to call it scroggin, a word that was created in New Zealand, probably among mountaineers in South Island, but whose origin is even more mysterious than that of gorp, if that were possible. ate his own body weight, over 200 pounds, over the course of Labor Day All rights reserved.This page URL: http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-gor1.htmLast modified: 9 April 2005. It’s said that it comes from the acronym you quote, but that’s certainly spurious. Cookies and privacy GORP; Etymology []. The first example in the Oxford English Dictionary dates from 1972.

The occasionally theorised good old raisins and peanuts is probably a backronym.. Noun []. The etymology of gorp is unknown, but according to this fascinating little article, a dictionary from 1904 lists the word gorp as meaning "to eat greedily." A This is a common term in the US for a type of high-energy snack, especially — as you imply — one containing raisins and nuts, plus chocolate. I ate this regularly with a sprinkling of dark chocolate chips while I was working on my Bachelor’s degree. Sorry to hedge my language so heavily, but we really don’t know for sure. 2005, Problems viewing this page? In 1904, the publication Dialect Notes noted that to gorp was to eat greedily; this is backed up by other references recorded in the Dictionary of American Regional English. I’ve found the word in the Appleton Post Crescent of Wisconsin in 1962 in an article that suggests yet another acronymic origin, but a completely different meaning: “Gorp” is taken by all campers and canoers. Washington Trails Association is 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Gorp definition is - a snack consisting of high-energy food (such as raisins and nuts).

gorp (uncountable) . The Oxford English Dictionary cites a 1913 reference to the verb "gorp", meaning "to eat greedily". Copyright © Michael Quinion, 1996–. It’s just a well-meaning attempt to explain a word about whose origins the experts tend to shake their heads sadly. weekend.". The connection seems obvious enough, but there's no etymological evidence connecting the two uses. was set in 2004 when Mark Lidzbarski Contributions to WTA are tax deductible, and we are committed to making the best use of every donation to our mission. Donate via PayPal. Our tax identification number is EIN 91-0900134. World Wide Words tries to record at least a part of this shifting wordscape by featuring new words, word histories, words in the news, and the curiosities of native English speech. World Wide Words is copyright © Michael Quinion, 1996–. Page created 9 Apr. Amanda Cossham tells me that it’s said to be an acronym from Sultanas, Currants, Raisins, Orange (peel), Ginger and Nuts — a neat parallel to the story about the origin of gorp, but equally unlikely to be true. GORP: Graduate Orthodontic Residents Program (University of Michigan; Ann Arbor, MI) GORP: Good Organic Retailing Practices: GORP: Granola, Oats, Raisins, and Peanuts (trail mix) GORP: Grinnell Outdoor Recreation Program: GORP: Garry Oak Restoration Project: GORP: Growing Outdoor Recreation Professionals (University of California, Berkeley) GORP (Named for the flavors grape, orange, raspberry and pineapple, “gorp” becomes a tasty thirst-quencher when mixed with cool water.). (Named for the flavors grape, orange, raspberry and pineapple, “gorp” becomes a tasty thirst-quencher when mixed with cool water.) New words appear; old ones fall out of use or alter their meanings.

The English language is forever changing. One basic meaning is to stare in a stupid or rude manner. Q From Katherine Phelps: I would be interested to hearing more about gorp. It sounds as though the writer confused the foodstuff with a fruit-flavoured powder such as Kool-Aid, and thereby created another version of the folk etymology, but who knows? This seems to have led to gawp up, meaning to devour (presumably from the open-mouthed bit of the meaning), which just might have led to the early twentieth-century American dialect sense from which our sense may have later derived. Steven Milne told me after this item appeared in the newsletter that he knows another supposedly acronymic origin from the 1960s: “From my earlier Boy Scout days and canoe trips up the Gunflint trail on the Canadian border in Minnesota, gorp was understood to stand for Granola, Oatmeal, Raisins and Peanuts, and that’s what we mixed up to eat.”. Quiz: where does the word gorp come from. But an earlier sense was of staring open-mouthed in witless astonishment. I was told that it stands for “good old raisins and peanuts”. Some dictionaries point rather uneasily to some appearances of the word as a verb from earlier in the twentieth century.

Alternative forms [].