- On Thanksgiving (November 24) 2005, my uncle made his usual joke about whether my grandparents are going to ‘nuke’ the Cool Whip like they do each year. This is because the Cool Whip is usually frozen and instead of letting it thaw my grandmother, takes
Nuke
verb; zero derivation
To cook or reheat in a microwave oven; to cook beyond the necessary or desired amount in a microwave. This term goes beyond the usual reheating and implies the overcooking that microwaving can sometimes lead to. The context of the comment supports this, for the Cool-Whip after ‘nuking’ is always transformed to a liquid state. The statement about my grandma ‘nuking’ the Cool-Whip for the pumpkin pie is one of my uncle’s favorite comments to make about Thanksgiving. He enjoys the world ‘nuke’ because of its military reference. ‘Nuke’ is an overstatement to describe the process of reheating via microwaving, but it is humorous because of it. Also, after being cooked in a microwave, food can be limp and tasteless, almost as if it has been killed or ‘nuked.’ ‘Nuke’ is derived from the term usually related to military or warfare meaning ‘to attack or destroy with nuclear weapons,’ according to the online form of the Oxford English Dictionary.
Etymology : "Nuke" is formed by zero derivation from the military term nuke 'destroy with nuclear weapons'. "Nuke" when applied to cooking is meant to be humorous usually.
Source : My uncle
Last modified: 10 June 2008