Entry from
June 30, 2005
Yuppie
"Yuppie" (young urban professional) is still used in New York. The term became a sensation in 1984. However, it appears that "yuppie" did not originate in New York.
(Oxford English Dictionary)
yuppie
A jocular term for a member of a socio-economic group comprising young professional people working in cities. Also attrib. Cf. YUMPIE.
1984 PIESMAN & HARTLEY (title) The yuppie handbook. 1984 [see YUMPIE]. 1984 Times 21 Mar. 14/2 A new term has been introduced into the American political lexicon... It is 'Yuppie', which stands for Young, urban professional people. 1984 Observer 8 Apr. 12/1 We have got to break this yuppie image. 1984 Guardian 22 Oct. 6/6 The yuppies themselves, in the 25-34 age group, supported Senator Gary Hart in the primaries. 1984 Washington Post 29 Mar. Va1/5 The two yuppy, upwardly mobile professional capitals of Virginia. 1985 Investors Chron. 8-14 Nov. 8/1 It also announced that it will change its name to Nextthe yuppy clothes-chain responsible for its meteoric rise.
Hence yuppi(e)ness; yuppyish a.
1984 N.Y. Times 28 May 22/6 Yuppiness depends on the prestige of gaining; happiness on the satisfaction of giving. 1986 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 8 Jan. 5/4 There is a serious side to yuppieness, as advertisers are discovering. 1986 Financial Times 22 Apr. 25/1 There is nothing yuppyish about the Folkes Group. 1987 Athletics Today Apr. 33/1 The area, fast becoming the hot-bed of 'Yuppiness', was first vacated several years ago when the ships left London's docks. 1988 Fortune 15 Feb. 124/3 This declaration points to upscale yuppyish types plainly able to afford $100 a week.
13 May 1981, Chicago Tribune, "Chicago: City on the brink" by R. C. Longworth, pg. 1:
It's almost a cliche to say that Chicago is a collection of neighborhoods. Some are rich and healthy - Beverly with its mostly white population, Pill Hill with its mostly black professionals, Lincoln Park with its Yuppies (Young Urban Professionals).
June 1982, Commentary, Joseph Epstein article, pg. 61:
His [John Irving's] novels exert their greatest pull on those people who are undecided about growing up; they are college-educated, getting on and even getting up in the world, but with a bit of the hippie-dippie counterculture clinging to them still - yuppies, they have been called, the initials YUP standing for young urban professionals.
(Oxford English Dictionary)
yuppie
A jocular term for a member of a socio-economic group comprising young professional people working in cities. Also attrib. Cf. YUMPIE.
1984 PIESMAN & HARTLEY (title) The yuppie handbook. 1984 [see YUMPIE]. 1984 Times 21 Mar. 14/2 A new term has been introduced into the American political lexicon... It is 'Yuppie', which stands for Young, urban professional people. 1984 Observer 8 Apr. 12/1 We have got to break this yuppie image. 1984 Guardian 22 Oct. 6/6 The yuppies themselves, in the 25-34 age group, supported Senator Gary Hart in the primaries. 1984 Washington Post 29 Mar. Va1/5 The two yuppy, upwardly mobile professional capitals of Virginia. 1985 Investors Chron. 8-14 Nov. 8/1 It also announced that it will change its name to Nextthe yuppy clothes-chain responsible for its meteoric rise.
Hence yuppi(e)ness; yuppyish a.
1984 N.Y. Times 28 May 22/6 Yuppiness depends on the prestige of gaining; happiness on the satisfaction of giving. 1986 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 8 Jan. 5/4 There is a serious side to yuppieness, as advertisers are discovering. 1986 Financial Times 22 Apr. 25/1 There is nothing yuppyish about the Folkes Group. 1987 Athletics Today Apr. 33/1 The area, fast becoming the hot-bed of 'Yuppiness', was first vacated several years ago when the ships left London's docks. 1988 Fortune 15 Feb. 124/3 This declaration points to upscale yuppyish types plainly able to afford $100 a week.
13 May 1981, Chicago Tribune, "Chicago: City on the brink" by R. C. Longworth, pg. 1:
It's almost a cliche to say that Chicago is a collection of neighborhoods. Some are rich and healthy - Beverly with its mostly white population, Pill Hill with its mostly black professionals, Lincoln Park with its Yuppies (Young Urban Professionals).
June 1982, Commentary, Joseph Epstein article, pg. 61:
His [John Irving's] novels exert their greatest pull on those people who are undecided about growing up; they are college-educated, getting on and even getting up in the world, but with a bit of the hippie-dippie counterculture clinging to them still - yuppies, they have been called, the initials YUP standing for young urban professionals.