13

For eight years, Trump bugged (annoyed) Obama with questions about his birth certificate. Later, Trump claimed that Obama bugged (wiretapped) him.

Merriam-Webster offers this "legal" definition of "bug," but gives no etymology:

to plant a concealed microphone in — compare eavesdrop, wiretap

It's been used this way as both a verb and a noun:

Trump wiretapping claim: Did Obama bug his successor?

The reason the Administration insisted on "secure and controlled conditions" for reconstruction was because the bugs were planted into the walls of the embassy by Soviet Government construction workers.

A search on etymonline for "bug" says the use in the sense of "wiretapping" dates to 1919, but I can't find a reference to exactly how or why the meaning originated.

Given how frequently the topic of "wiretapping" has been in the news in the U.S., how did wiretapping come to be called "bugging?"

RaceYouAnytime
  • 22,413
  • I hate to break this to you, but Etymonline does mention the wiretapping sense Sense of "equip with a concealed microphone" is from 1919. But someone might find an earlier reference, it has happened before. Still...1919 is really early! – Mari-Lou A May 02 '17 at 03:08
  • Ngram only finds references back to about 1960. Wire tapping goes back to the Eliot Ness era, certainly, but it may well be that "bugging", being more complicated technically, didn't come along until around 1960. – Hot Licks May 02 '17 at 03:09
  • @Mari-LouA woops. Thanks, I'll edit my question. – RaceYouAnytime May 02 '17 at 03:11
  • @Mari-LouA is there a way with etymonline to find the cited source at that date? – RaceYouAnytime May 02 '17 at 03:14
  • It's usually the OED, I don't have access to it unfortunately. – Mari-Lou A May 02 '17 at 03:16
  • Related: Origin of “bug” in reference to software and Is the use of the term “bugged” to refer to software bugs in English a worldwide or regional use? – Mari-Lou A May 02 '17 at 03:19
  • 1
    Interesting answer by Sven Yarg, EL&U's number one etymologist guy: https://english.stackexchange.com/a/239280/44619 – Mari-Lou A May 02 '17 at 03:23
  • 2
    @Mari-LouA The earliest I'm seeing in OED for this sense of bug is from 1936: "The dictaphones (later called ‘dicks’ or ‘bugs’ by the force) were ordered." from Fighting Underworld. – Laurel May 02 '17 at 03:23
  • According to "How Stuff Works", wiretapping has been in existence almost as long as the telephone has been around (1890s). Whether it was called bugging or not is not mentioned; however, it is said that the telephone recording device was already in use by this time, and the US Supreme Court had approved it by 1928. – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ May 02 '17 at 03:34
  • @Cascabel surely wiretapping predates the telephone. The electric telegraph was well established decades earlier. – phoog May 02 '17 at 03:37
  • 2
    @phoog I would have to think about that, but I think the nature of the signal would not allow for interception without degrading it. It is a DC signal in a closed loop and interupting it would probably block it. Phone signals are analog, and can be intercepted with a bridge or even a simple condensor. And the recording equipment did not come into existence until the late 1800s, AFAIK. – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ May 02 '17 at 03:44
  • @Cascabel and electromagnetic telegraphs are so sensitive that the degradation would be detected? I think not. You could wire your detecting device into the circuit in series if necessary. I also can't imagine why you would think recording equipment other than a pencil and paper would be necessary to intercept a telegraph transmission. A quick web search indeed reveals that wiretapping was prevalent during the Civil war. – phoog May 02 '17 at 04:21
  • @phoog Yes , I also found some information that would suggest it was done at least as early as 1845. My point is that DC signals have issues with voltage drops over distance, and hacked-in devices would increase that. Also, it is easier to use encoding with telegraph. – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ May 02 '17 at 04:28
  • 1
    @Cascabel even your own link begins by noting the existence of anti-wiretapping statutes in the 1860s, so actually you paraphrased it inaccurately. Surely nobody would have bothered with such statutes unless people were actually intercepting telegraph communications. I guess you didn't read it very carefully. But the source also reveals its questionable quality by claiming that these statutes were enacted by state courts. That's not how things work in the US, except perhaps in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, where the legislature is called the "General Court." – phoog May 02 '17 at 04:29
  • @phoog Whatever. I am done with this. – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ May 02 '17 at 04:33
  • 1
    Tip for next time, wait at least 24 hours before accepting an answer to give others, who are on different times zones, a crack at answering the question. It also increases the chances that everyone's post earn more attention, which equals more votes. – Mari-Lou A May 02 '17 at 07:01
  • @Mari-LouA that's good advice, thanks. As much as I like the accepted answer, I didn't realize there would be so much more interest. – RaceYouAnytime May 02 '17 at 07:04
  • The U.S. Embassy in Moscow was bugged with the Great Seal bug in 1945. – Xanne May 02 '17 at 10:37
  • 2
    Speaking of insects, I suspect there is some link between this bug and the idiom a fly on the wall. No evidence though; if anything, my searches seem to suggest that a fly on the wall came later. Oh well. – Mr Lister May 02 '17 at 10:46

2 Answers2

16

Bug, meaning "to arm something with an alarm" is from 1919 and this sense is mentioned as the forerunner of the word bug, meaning "to attach or install a listening device". Thus, it is not exactly true that the origin of the word bug, bugging in the sense asked in the original post is from 1919.

It is mentioned in the book 20th century words (by John Ayto): enter image description here

Here is the excerpt from 1919, from the original source:enter image description here

The earliest origin is mentioned as 1935 in the books 20th century words (by John Ayto) and Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary: Eleventh Edition but I couldn't find the actual reference.

In OED, the earliest reference is from 1936 for the noun and 1955 for the verb.

ermanen
  • 62,797
  • 1
    Huh, I had always assumed bug originated because the hidden microphones were about the size of a bug (I have a vague memory of some movie showing a spy microphone this size being clipped onto someone's shirt) – Andy Nov 16 '18 at 20:14
-4

A bug is a small insect (specifically a certain order of small insects) a small hidden microphone is the size of a small insect - at least in the movie going public imagination

mgb
  • 24,191