COUCH POTATO

noun (Lifestyle and Leisure) (People and Society) In slang, a person who spends leisure time passively (for example by sitting watching television or videos), eats junk food, and takes little or no physical exercise. Etymology: Formed by compounding; a person with the physical shape of a potato who spends as much time as possible slouching on the couch. The original humorous coinage by Californian Tom Iacino relied on a pun: because of their love for continuous viewing of the television (known in US slang as the boob tube, unlike British slang, which uses the term for a skimpy stretch bodice), these people had formerly been called boob tubers; for their emblem, cartoonist Robert Armstrong therefore drew the best known tuber--a potato--reclining on a couch watching TV, formed a club called The Couch Potatoes, and later went on to register the term as a trade mark. History and Usage: The US trade mark registration for the term couch potato claims that it was first used on 15 July 1976. Robert Armstrong (who is really responsible for popularizing the term and maintaining the cult) has claimed that this coinage was not his, attributing it instead to Tom Iacino, another 'Elder' of the cult, who used it when asking to speak to a fellow Elder (known only as 'The Hallidonian') on the telephone. The Couch Potatoes club which Armstrong formed aimed to raise the self-esteem of tubers, and provided a counterbalance to the cult of physical fitness which was by then a dominant influence in American society. With the growth of the domestic video market, the couch potato cult became very popular during the eighties and resulted in much merchandising-- couch potato teeshirts, dolls, stationery, books, etc. designed to promote pride in the tuber culture. Many variations on the term developed too: the obvious couch potatoing and couch potatodom and a whole range of words based on spud, such as vid spud, telespud, spud suit, and spudismo. With the coining of the trend analyst's term cocooning in 1986, couch potatoes felt that their way of life was being officially recognized; however, a National Children and Youth Fitness Study carried out in the US in 1987 made it clear that it was not to be officially condoned, criticizing parents for not getting children to take outdoor exercise and for raising a nation of couch potatoes. The couch potato concept and merchandising reached the UK in the late eighties, although the lifestyle had existed without a name for some time before that. Though Mr. Armstrong's brainchild has yet to make him rich, he is still undaunted, spreading the Couch Potato gospel: 'We feel that watching TV is an indigenous American form of meditation. We call it "transcendental vegetation".' Parade 3 Jan. 1988, p. 6 The economy could be thrown into recession because of the couch potato's penchant for staying home with the family, watching TV and munching on microwave popcorn. Atlanta Oct. 1989, p. 61