What Does “couch potato” mean?
Definition:
The phrase a couch potato refers to a lazy person, who likes to watch TV while lying on the couch and probably eating chips.
Origin
The phrase was introduced by Robert D. Armstrong in 1976. A few years later, he and a small group of media hoaxers trademarked and popularized the term couch potato. Jack Mingo popularized the expression in the book The Official Couch Potato Handbook.
The phrase compares people who like to spend most of their time sitting or lying down on a couch (i.e., sofa) while watching television and probably eating potato chips to a potato. This kind of people are likely to be overweight
It should be noted here that the term “Potato” is used in this expression because it’s presumably inactive, shapeless and, plump.
The phrase couch potato is often contrasted with the other idiom “mouse potato” which refers to someone who spends large amounts of leisure or working time operating a computer.
Synonyms
– idler;
– layabout;
– do-nothing;
– loafer.
Example(s)
He is just a couch potato puts the burden of bringing home the bacon on his wife’s shoulders.
Please, don’t be a couch potato. Get up and do something productive!
