OK, Who coined the term 'clocked'?

[Robin414]

What's up with the term 'clocked', is this still being used or am I a newb? It sounds so 60's, is there a new 'term' for 'holy crap, that hot chic is a dude!' or do WE have to make one? Just a thought 😕

[Barbara Jo]

Actually, i believe the term "clocked" as referring to "reading" someones face / intentions goes back to the '30s in the US.

I assume this became a use of "clock" because a human has a face as does a clock .

This is also why you "clock" someone it you hit them in the face.

[Lorileah]

or clocked from when you get a speeding ticket via radar. You are clocked breaking a law i.e. "I was clocked doing 30 in a 25 zone"

[AbigailJordan]

Barbara hit it on the head. The term "clocked" meaning to recognise or "spot" someone comes from clocks, or more specifically watches. The term was first used to refer to someone watching something or someone. And later came to mean "noticing" something.

I don't mind the term at all, I think too much slang is being replaced or pushed out by modern speech that it's nice to have some throwbacks that still mean what they almost always did :)

[donnalee]

I believe it was another, later term for "made", usually used when someone realizes that the person is a plainclothes cop (remember. not all that long ago, one could be arrested for dressing). When a subculture exists in conflict with society's "norms", defense mechanisms are a necessity. Of course this cuts both ways.

[Jeri Ann]

Urban Dictionary has seventeen definitions for "clocked". One is specifically for TG.

[BLUE ORCHID]

Hi Robin, Just Google (clocked) :daydreaming:

[Donnagirl]

I blame 'The Bill'

[HelenR2]

When I was young, many years ago, clock was English slang for someone's face, and was already dying out then.

[Sissy_in_pink]

When my son finished a computer game he would say he Clocked it, it made so sense to my and still doesn't.

[AbigailJordan]

Sissy, the term clocking in gaming terms is a reference to the old days where computer games had limited computing power and memory and high scores were often limited depending on the number of bits available. so maximum scores would be for example 999,999. Or 99,999 etc. The term "clocked it" referred to hitting the maximum high score possible which was effectively the only way to "complete" a never ending game structure such as space invaders or Tetris etc.

[Pat]

I've heard the term "clocked" as far back as I can remember (and that's pretty far back.) I've heard it used in many contexts besides tranny-spotting to indicate someone saw past a disguise of some kind.

In my circles, the most common term for having someone realize you are not a woman is "read," as in "he read me" or "I hope I don't get read." My way of avoiding that situation is to not pretend I'm a woman -- then they don't get credit for seeing past my clever disguise, they only get credit for being marginally more awake than the other people around them. ;)

[AngelaYVR]

I like "rumbled"

[OCCarly]

The term appears to have originated in England, where it meant to notice someone in general, or to be noticed by the police. As far as origins beyond that, back in the days before smart phones had gps apps, security guards on patrol carried a mechanical clock on a strap, and they had to stop at periodic places along the way, where a key on a chain would be placed, and stick the key in the clock. The purpose of the clock was to make sure they reached particular patrol areas at regular intervals, and to keep them honest.

The last time I saw one of those clock devices was probably in 1987 or so. But that is probably the actual origin of the term back in Merrie Olde England, where security guards and foot patrol cops carried clocks, and getting clocked meant getting noticed by them.

The first time I ever heard of the term was reading an article about crossdressing in the L.A. Weekly back in the late 1980's or very early 1990's but I am sure it had been in use in the crossdresser and trans community for a long time before that.

[Cassandra*]

I've heard the term being used in 50's set tv shows and in high school when a guy hits another person. Man I really clocked hit over the nogen

[~Joanne~]

OK, Who coined the term 'clocked'?

We probably will never know the answer to who it was but I bet it's the same Joker that came up with the terms Cross dressing and cross Dresser.

[PretzelGirl]

It was some cuckoo...