What an ignoble beginning for the selfie.
Our very own and much loved Australian Broadcasting Corporation believes the first use of the term selfie was on its web site in September 2002, probably coined by a university student in Armidale, New South Wales.
In the post, the person with the split lip explained that it was the result of a drunken fall down some steps, and uses the exact term ‘selfie’ to describe the photo.
The ABC web site names the person as ‘Hopey’, and asks for that person to get in touch.
Knowing what the selfie has become today, and you were responsible for it, would you be proud or ashamed? Would you contact the ABC? Would you want to go on the talk-show circuit telling the world it was your fault? Watch this space!
Footnote1: selfie is the runaway winner of the Oxford English Dictionary Word of the Year 2013.
Footnote 2: It’s not really surprising that selfie was coined by an Australian. We have a long track record of shortening words or phrases and adding an ‘ie’ suffex. Examples are Aussie (Australian), barbie (barbeque), mozzie (mosquito) and lippie (lipstick). So to shorten self-portrait to selfie fits the pattern perfectly.
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