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creepy-peepy

You, too, can find out what "creepy-peepy" -- also known as a "walkie-lookie" -- means by searching the online Oxford English Dictionary. The "wow" factor of the Oxford English Dictionary is that it provides quotations that demonstrate a word's first known use in the English language and its use through time. To find the definition and history of a word,

• use the Database Quicklinks menu in the upper right corner of the Library home page
• select Oxford English Dictionary
• on the right side of the screen, click on "Enter OED online"
• use the search box to search for the word

According to the O-E-D (O-E-D is the shortened version of the dictionary's title used by those in-the-know), "creepy-peepy" is first found in Life magazine in July 1952. Quotations from the article in Life, from a 1976 issue of the Edwardsville (Illinois) Intelligencer, and from a 1998 article in the Evening Standard demonstrate the meaning and use of creepy-peepy.

Here's what you'll find in the O-E-D:

creepy-peepy

A portable television camera used for close-up shots on location. Cf. PEEPIE-CREEPIE n.

1952 Life 21 July 18 The walkie-lookie (a new NBC hand camera which was promptly dubbed a creepie-peepie) did for the visual audience what the roving candid microphone had done for radio listeners. 1976 Edwardsville (Illinois) Intelligencer 19 July 4/5 How is CBS..going to get its creepy peepy right into that smoke-filled room where the deal is being made? 1998 Evening Standard (Nexis) 2 July 28 Posing as a martyr to the Truth as he carries his creepy-peepy camera on his shoulder.

The O-E-D also has a Word of the Day link (with an RSS feed so that you can get your daily word) as well as a link to "Lost for Words? Get an entry" where the O-E-D will send you to random words just such as "creepy-peepy".

Enjoy!

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