The Etymology of "Poindexter"

Anyone who has had a fair amount of exposure to The Simpsons would immediately recognize the term "poindexter" as a reference to a person who is patently nerdy or geeky; one, while exhibiting a nominal amount of intelligence, who lacks certain social skills, self-awareness, and a minimal sophisticated refinement.

A few examples from the Simpsons:

• In the episode "Bye Bye Nerdie" Lisa attempts to prove bully behavior results from a chemical pheromone emitted by nerds:
  
  "I have isolated the chemical which is emitted by every geek, dork, and four-eyes. I call it "poindextrose."



• In "Treehouse of Horror X" Lisa is hit by a beam of radiation and slams into some folded bleachers which, in turn, fall on top of her.
  
  Skinner: She's been crushed! And so have the hopes of our mathletics team.
  Lisa: [single-handedly lifts the grandstand above her head, and stands up] Hold the funeral, poindexter!
  Skinner: [gasps] Poindexter?!
  



• In "Treehouse of Horror VI" Police Chief Wiggum is put off by Professor Frink's prolonged explanations about the mysterious dimension Homer has fallen into:
  
  Homer: [disembodied] Help me! Are you helping me, or are you going on and on?
  Frink: Oh, right. And, of course, within, we find the doomed individual.
  Wiggum: Enough of your borax, poindexter! A man's life is at
  stake... We need action!

Because of its repeated usage by Simpsons writers over the years along with a few other times I've heard it reference in popular culture, I've always had a desire to learn the origination of this epithet, and had prematurely ended my quest when I learned one of the main characters from the "Revenge of the Nerds" franchise was named "Arnold Poindexter." This inconclusive information, without further investigation, was, for some reason, sufficient for me at the time.

That cold case file was reopened today.

I was chatting (or, I should say, the victim of some mindless, ongoing prattling) with a lady at work who is at least twenty-five years my elder, when she was recounting a college experience in which she could never remember her Physics tutor's name. She went on to say that she always referred to him as "poindexter."

Not being particularly gifted with solving simple mathematical problems in my head, I merely assumed her college years would have slightly predated the original "Revenge of the Nerds" movie, which I assumed was probably released in the mid-80's sometime (it was 1984). I asked her why she called him that, "poindexter," to which she replied she did not know; it seemed to be what people called nerds back then, you know, poindexter. I asked her if she had ever seen "Revenge of the Nerds" to which she replied in the negative.

Come to think of it, she was probably extremely confused with my line of follow-up questions, especially when I jumped to life at her mention of that term, poindexter.

Logically, I deduced the Arnold Poindexter from "Nerds" fame was also probably an allusion. So I quickly executed an effortless Wikipedia search and suddenly my timeworn question was answered within mere seconds.

I thought to myself, Why didn't I think of this before?

To be frank, here is the article lifted straight from Wikipedia:

Poindexter is a fictional character in the cartoon Felix the Cat. First introduced in 1958, he is the young nephew of the Professor, the arch-nemesis of Felix.

Poindexter is depicted as a stereotypical scientist; he is very intelligent and always wears thick glasses, a lab coat, and a mortarboard. A button on the chest of his lab coat acts as a control for whatever device the plot calls for. He helps his bumbling uncle concoct elaborate schemes to get Felix and capture his Magic Bag, though at times both are depicted as Felix's friends. Poindexter always refers to the protagonist as "Mr. Felix".

As a reference to the Felix the Cat character, the term "Poindexter" is now applied to people who are overly nerdy, geeky, or bookish."

This may be the most trivial subject matter I have ever written about, but I'm sure to outdo myself in the future. Also, I'm somewhat certain I've just entertained the longest discussion in recorded history on the word poindexter.

Eat that, poindexter.