"techie, n." - Word of the Day from the OED

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Your word for today is: techie, n.

techie, n.

Pronunciation: Brit. /ˈtɛki/, U.S. /ˈtɛki/

Forms: 19– techie, 19– techy.

Etymology:Partly < Tech n.¹ + -y suffix⁶, and partly < tech- (in technology n.) + -y suffix⁶. Compare later tech n.⁴

 1. U.S. College slang. Freq. with capital initial. A student at a school of technology.

1969 Current Slang (Univ. S. Dakota) 4 i. 16Techy, a student in a school of technology or math.

1981 Amer. N. & Q. Sept.–Oct. 21/1A Yale student is called a Yalie. An M.I.T. student is a Techie.

1984 A. Lee Sarah Phillips (1985) 101Bellemere‥had had a lot of the punch, which was a Techie grape-juice concoction laced with acid.

2002 Mass High Tech (Nexis) 23 Sept. 2After NJIT he‥went on to study at MIT. 'They were the halcyon years, and I was a happy techie.'

 2. colloq. (chiefly U.S.). An expert in or enthusiast for technology, esp. computing; (also) a technician.

1969 Harvard Crimson 7 Mar. (Electronic ed.),The audience at a Harvard show is pretty unaware of techies—the backstage and front office people who organize, frame and run a production.

1970 Globe & Laurel Apr. 90/1We all had a little holiday 'cept for the 'techies' who had to mend it [sc. a generator].

1987 E. Prager Clea & Zeus Divorce (1988) x. 68He saw the uses of technology.‥ He was the first techie.

1988 PC Mag. May 114/3A techie event held by IBM in Florida.

2005 Wired May 131/1Techies get rid of their old phones every six months, fashionistas every year and a half.

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