File under “Trail Mixup”: Don’t swallow the “etymology” of gorp whole.
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Bill Brohaugh
The concoction many of us know as “trail mix” indeed contains raisins and peanuts, but it’s unlikely that gorp is, as has been suggested, an acronym of “Good Old Raisins and Peanuts.” 22 More likely, the word come from a slang verb gorp (“to gobble or gulp”), which has been with us since around the beginning of the twentieth century (a time of more trails and fewer table manners, I suppose).
In a bizarre and specious speculation about the origin of the word in question, I ask you to keep in mind that three of the words in the supposed GORP acronym are closely related in the funny papers. Cartoonist Charles Schulz originally wanted his strip to be called “Good Old Charlie Brown,” but the newspaper syndicate changed it to “Peanuts.” Coincidence? Eh? Ya think? Sure, that doesn’t explain the raisins, but, hey, I have confidence that the bull- shitternet etymologists out there will find a way to bring them in. Email me with the “derivation” when you get a chance.