mouse potato
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Blend of mouse + couch potato.
Pronunciation
[edit]- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈmaʊs pəˈteɪ.təʊ/
- (US) IPA(key): /maʊs pəʊ.teɪ.təʊ/
Audio (General Australian): (file)
Noun
[edit]mouse potato (plural mouse potatoes)
- (slang) A person who spends excessive amounts of time using a computer.
- 1994 July 14, Ruth Shurman, “Me and my Gizmo: No. 8”, in The Guardian:
- Lady Miss Kier is a mouse potato. 'I wake up, I go and turn the computer on before I wash my face or brush my teeth. I'll be sitting there in my underwear, and before I know it, four hours have passed. Then I pick up the phone, push some more buttons and the food delivery arrives, and then 16 hours have passed in front of the computer. It leaves you completely drained.'
- 2001 December 7, Aniruddho Sanyal, “The Trini Trinity Is Found On De Line”, in The Times Higher Education Supplement:
- The internet, the authors say, affords the average mouse-potato the opportunity to experience a Naipaul-esque enigma of arrival in far-away lands without ever leaving the shores of Trinidad.