The etymology of today's term if both quite certain and recent,and did I mention humorous? Couch Potato was first coined in July of 1976 by Tom Iacino who phoned Robert Armstrong,his cartoonist friend (an avid TV watcher) and when his girlfriend answered Tom knew what his friend was doing. He asked the girlfriend,"Hey,is the couch potato there?" It was intended as a pun combining the phrase "boob tube" and tuber. As the phrase became more common the puns became more plentiful. "Transcendental Vegetation" or TV for short. When asked why the potato was the vegetable of choice it was explained that: "We're an underground movement,we're all eyes when planted in front of the TV,and we're tubers. Get it?" In Canada they put their own spin on the phrase and call them Chesterfield Spuds.
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