- After identifying the object as a "gurl" (bizarre rating 3.7), Spaceman Spiff notes that his bizarrotron is reading a bit low.
Bizarrotron
noun; derivation
An instrument which gives a measure of an object’s bizarreness Mr. Watterson wanted the word to sound alien as well as childish. Children hear many words ending in ‘-tron’, all of which are instruments having something to do with the root of the word. Mr. Watterson had to use a word that a six year old would think of, and a six year old would probably form a word like ‘bizarrotron’ by analogy from words such as ‘jumbotron’.
Etymology : ‘bizarre’ (from Spanish ‘bizarro’ meaning ‘strange’ from Basque ‘bizar’ meaning ‘beard’) + ‘-tron’ (Greek, instrument-forming suffix)
Source : Calvin and Hobbes comic strip
Last modified: 10 June 2008