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What Does 'Zaprudering' Mean?

Hi. Have you ever heard or seen the word "Zapruder" used as a verb? I enjoy this imaginative and colorful usage very much. Have a look at the following example sentence to get a feel for how to apply it:

Thanks to my trusty DVR, I was able to Zapruder last night's American Idol show and analyze the nuances of the scary McPhee family's reactions and facial expressions.

Colloquially speaking, to Zapruder a film or digital video segment means to analyze said media extremely closely—perhaps even frame-by-frame—with the intent of gleaning a deeper understanding than is immediately obvious by watching the segment in real time.

This verb usage of Zapruder is classified linguistically as an eponym, or (according to Wikipedia), "the name of a person, whether real or fictitious, which has (or is thought to have) given rise to the name of a particular place, tribe, discovery or other item."

How is your 20th century American history? You may or may not recall that the Russian immigrant named Abraham Zapruder (1905-1970) was the guy who recorded the most authoritative (not to mention controversial) film of the John F. Kennedy assassination in November 1963.

Wikipedia defines the Zapruder film (which has become sort of an eponym in itself to refer to any heavily scrutinized media) in this way:

The Zapruder film is the 8 mm home movie footage shot by Abraham Zapruder in Dallas, Texas, within Dealey Plaza while standing next to the grassy knoll during the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. It is the definitive, most authoritative film of the assassination.

Now we arrive at the use of Zapruder as a verb. The best definitions for this usage I could find in my basic Internet research were in archived discussion threads and FAQ pages from the Television Without Pity forums.

Incidentally, TWoP is a fantastic site for all things related to contemporary American popular television programs. Specifically, their forums are filled overflowing with intelligent, articulate people who possess a special talent for snark. :) Following is one simple definition from the Amazing Race FAQ pages at TWoP:

Question: What does it mean to "Zapruder the credits"?

Answer: Zapruder was the guy who took the home movie of the Kennedy assassination that's been examined frame-by-frame in excruciating detail. Therefore, it refers to examining a piece of film in excruciating detail.

Finally, please be aware that because Zapruder refers to a proper noun (specifically, to a man's name), we must always be certain to capitalize this word whenever we use it in text.

Consequently, we never zapruder ending credits of a film. Rather, we Zapruder them. Got it?

Have a great day!

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2 Comments

  1. earligtd wrote:

    An SFReviews.net review of William Gibson’s book “Pattern Recognition” mentions his use of Zapruder as a verb (he didn’t necessarily invent the usage)

    Monday, June 11, 2011 at 9:17 am | Permalink
  2. earligtd wrote:

    The SFReviews.net review is here (didn’t post the first time)

    Monday, June 11, 2011 at 9:19 am | Permalink

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