Couch potato
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A couch potato is a person who spends most of his or her free time sitting or lying on a couch. This stereotype often refers to a lazy and overweight person who watches a lot of television. Generally speaking, the term refers to a lifestyle in which children or adults don't get enough physical activity.
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[edit] History
Informally, Hartsdale, New York has arguably been called the birthplace of the American couch potato, since in 1928 it was the receiving site of the first successful trans-Atlantic television broadcast by John Logie Baird. The actual term "couch potato" was first coined in 1976 by Tom Iacino, a friend of American underground comics artist Robert Armstrong. In the early-1980s, he registered the term as a trademark with the U.S. government; he also co-authored a book with Jack Mingo, called The Official Couch Potato Handbook, which delves into the lives of couch potatoes.[1] [2]
The term eventually entered common American vocabulary, generally defining one who unceasingly watches television as a form of "Transcendental Vegetation (TV for short)." The phrase was entered into the Oxford English Dictionary in 1993.[citation needed] Mingo, the Minister of Information and Propaganda for the official Couch Potatoes organization[clarification needed], explained why the potato was chosen as a vegetable role model: "We're an underground movement, we're all eyes when planted in front of the TV, vegetation is an important part of our existence, and we're Tubers. Get it?"[citation needed] The potato was also chosen because of the potato chips that couch potatoes ate while watching television[citation needed].
[edit] Health
Some studies have said that the "couch potato lifestyle" is a serious health hazard to its practitioners[3]; in the United Kingdom, a plan of the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit tried attempts "to combat the couch potato culture" to "[improving the U.K.'s] international sporting performance."[4]
Studies presented at the 2003 meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine suggested that there could be a genetic basis for the "couch potato lifestyle".[5]
Research suggests that being a couch potato could make a person a decade older biologically than someone who is physically active.[6]
[edit] Popular culture
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Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (September 2008) |
- Various activities have been designed for the couch potato, including a type of investment portfolio ("Couch Potato Portfolio")[7], and fantasy football leagues.
- Greyhound dogs, who are well-known for their sprinting ability but otherwise require little exercise, are sometimes called "forty-five mile per hour couch potatoes" by adoption and rescue agencies.[8]
- Music artist "Weird Al" Yankovic's song "Couch Potato" (a parody of "Lose Yourself" by Eminem) describes him watching hours upon hours of television, "until [his] legs are numb, [his] eyes bloodshot."
- The phrase has coined the spin-off mouse potato (or sometimes computer potato), meaning one who spends too much time in front of a computer.
- Couch Potatoes was the name of a game show hosted by Double Dare host Marc Summers.
- Couch Potato was a Sunday morning kids TV show aired on the ABC in Australia in the 1990s.
[edit] External links
- CouchPotato A personalized tv-show guide for couch potatoes, helps you get organized.
- On Mirror Neurons or Why It Is Okay to be a Couch Potato
