Wannabe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other uses, see Wannabe (disambiguation).
A wannabe (sometimes spelled wannabee) is a person who likes to imitate, or even wishes to be, another, but cannot achieve it due to physical, psychological, financial, cultural, political, religious, or mental limitations. The term, a contraction of "want to be," entered the popular consciousness in the mid-1980s.
The term was first used in a July 6, 1981 Newsweek article on surfing that described novice surfers crowding the beaches as wannabees (as in, ‘I wanna be a surfer’).[1] The term was popularized by writer John Skow in a spring 1985 Time magazine on the pop star Madonna.[2] Skow used the construction "Wanna Be's" to describe the avid fans who sought to dress, talk and act like their idol. Other early uses of the term referred to "wannabe" gang members and "wannabe" bikers.[3]
In subsequent years, the contracted form of Skow's phrase — "wannabe" — came into wide use and took on something of a pejorative connotation. The term is associated often with ambitious and excessive zeal.
The term 'wannabe' is sometimes used derogatively to describe young fans of rap and alternative music, mainly by current or experienced fans of similar music.
Native Americans often describe non-Natives who pretend to be Indians, or outsiders who claim to follow Native religions, "Members of the Wannabe Tribe" [4]
People suffering from apotemnophilia, the desire to amputate a limb are also called wannabes.
