Wannabe
From Free net encyclopedia
- For the Spice Girls song, see Wannabe (song).
A wannabe (sometimes spelled wannabee) is a person who likes to imitate, or even wishes to be, another. The term, a contraction of "want to be," entered the popular consciousness in the mid-1980s.
It was most likely coined, and most certainly popularized, by writer John Skow in a spring 1985 Time magazine cover story on the pop star Madonna. Skow used the construction "Wanna Be's" to describe the avid fans who sought to dress, talk and act like their idol.
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.
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