It ’s scarcely the most complimentary turn of phrase , butrug rathas been used as a vernacular full term for children for more than half a century .
Etymologically , the news report is a reasonably straightforward one . According toGreen ’s Dictionary of Slang , thetermrug ratliterally refers to “ a small child who is still crawl on the carpet . ” So therugis just a flooring covering , whilerathas been used in various contexts to refer to people since the 1800s ; Green ’s even hasreferenceto aratmeaning “ a street urchin ” dating from 1896 .
The termrug ratitself is n’t quite as old as that , though . The Oxford English Dictionary has so far managed to trace itsearliest recorded useback to 1964 , when an article in Nebraska’sColumbus Daily Telegrammade reference to repairing rig on a sportfishing trip “ for the carpeting rat . ”
From there , rug ratwasquickly embracedin theslangyspeech of the1970sand‘80s — but in manyearly examplesof the phrase , the moderately uncomplimentary affiliation of a begrimed gnawer was never too far away . Take this passage from “ Vidiots That Have Known Me ” by Robert Manning , which appeared in73 Magazinein October 1969 :
“ I was immediately solicit by two fauna forms . The first … a sticky jam , tar , and glue - finger , drapery climb , crumb - grabbing rug rat that attached itself to my leg like Sinbad ’s ‘ old gentleman’s gentleman of the ocean , ’ shrieking and screaming something totally unintelligible … ”
Of course , the word found a whole unexampled audience in the 1990s with the comer of Nickelodeon ’s slay alive seriesRugratsin 1991 . As its co - Jehovah Arlene Klasky said inan interviewwithThe Guardianin 2015 , the termrug ratstill was n’t all that widely known by the clip she first monger the show in 1989 ( and her original idea was to name itOnesomething , as a play on the smash showThirtysomething ) . Nine seasons , 13 years , four Daytime Emmy Awards , and a pic after , however , the show ’s popularity had change all of that , andrug rathas remained in widespread use in English ever since .
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