WANNABE

noun and adjective Also written wannabee (Youth Culture) In young people's slang (originally in the US): noun: An avid fan or follower who hero-worships and tries to emulate the person he or she admires, modelling personal appearance, dress, etc. on this person. Also, more generally, anyone who wants to be someone else. adjective: Aspiring, would-be; like a wannabe; inspired by envy. Etymology: A respelling of want to be (as in the sixties song I Wan'na Be Like You by Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman), treated as a single word which can operate as a noun (someone whose appearance etc. seems to say 'I wanna be like you') or an adjective. History and Usage: The noun was first used in the mid eighties to refer to White youths in the US who dressed and behaved like members of Black gangs, but were actually relatively harmless. It was probably most widely popularized, though, by its application to the female fans of the rock star Madonna, many of whom adopted a style of dress and make-up which almost turned them into Madonna look-alikes. There are also the sporting wannabes, the people who own all the kit that goes with the sport and manage to look the part, but have not yet the ability to fulfil the role. The adjective wannabe developed during the second half of the eighties. Scores of Samantha Fox and Linda Lusardi wannabees raided British lingerie shops for skimpy lace and satin undies recently. Australasian Post 23 Apr. 1988, p. 16 Madonna's appeal to adoring wannabes rests less on her...personal life than her music, a blend of tweaking lyrics...and a beat that dares you not to dance. Life Fall 1989, p. 84 Today, whose in-house motto is 'Green and Greed' (it loves environment stories as well as 'wannabe' lifestyle ones) thought up a cheeky wheeze for last week's world conference in Bergen. Observer 20 May 1990, p. 49