nerdle
n.— «So how much toothpaste should you use, given all those millions spent on the product? A “nerdle” says the ADA. That’s a squeeze that covers the length of the bristles on a toothbrush, ADA researches say.» —“Monday Memo” by Gary A. Clark St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri) Aug. 19, 1996. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Enthusiastic book recommendations! Martha’s savoring the biography of Alexander von Humboldt, the 19th-century explorer, polymath, and naturalist who revolutionized our understanding of nature and predicted the effects of human activity on...
Jill from Maryville, Missouri, and her 11-year-old son Ryan are wondering about the phrases I have a hankering to do something and I’m fixing to do something. Growing up in East Central Nebraska, Jill heard family and friends use them synonymously...
Who coined the word??? When???
I’m not certain but I think it was coined in the 1980’s by TV commercial director Ed Libonati who shot a lot of toothpaste spots. He had a bunch of plastic nerdles made that looked like various toothpastes and would hold up under hot lights for product “beauty shots”.