Wannabe

The Anglo-Saxon term wannabe refers to a person who wants to appear to be someone else, imitate attitudes or even wish to be someone else. The term, a contraction of want to be, entered popular parlance in the United States in the mid-1980s.

Description

The term was first used on July 6, 1981 in a Newsweek magazine article about surfing, which described novice surfers who crowded the beaches as wannabes (" I wanna be a surfer»). The term was popularized by writer John Skow in a spring 1985 issue of Time magazine about pop star Madonna. Skow used the phrase Wanna Be's to describe eager fans who longed to dress, talk, and behave like their idol.

In the following years, the deformed form of Skow's phrase—wannabe—acquired broader use and adopted a certain pejorative connotation. The term is frequently associated with ambition and excessive desire or even as an offense.

Etymology

The word probably comes from the distortion of I want to be (in English, "I want to be") to I wanna be.

Traits

The wannabe is a person with a lot of enthusiasm and interest who usually seeks to maintain good relationships with experts in the activity they like; to become just like them.

Mentions in popular culture

The American punk rock band The Offspring refers to the term in their song "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)".

Uses in other contexts

We can also find the term referring to eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia. In this case, the wannabe people or vulgarly called "guanabis" They are the ones who ask for advice from people who suffer from the disease in order to lose weight.^{[citation required]}