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
Asthenosphere, a geologist’s term for the molten layer beneath the earth’s crust, sparks a journey that stretches all the way from ancient Greece to the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Plus: What the heck is a dogberg? It’s when...
The edge of the Grand Canyon. A remote mountaintop. A medieval cathedral. Some places are so mystical you feel like you’re close to another dimension of space and time. There’s a term for such locales: thin places. And: did you ever go...
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”.