A Blip Was a Radar Echo Before It Was a Setback
A blip is a small mark on a screen, or a temporary deviation. The word entered English with radar in the 1940s.
A blip is a small flashing point of light on a radar screen, and by extension a brief unimportant deviation. The word is imitative, recorded from 1894 for a small sound, but it was radar in the 1940s that gave it real currency: an aircraft appeared as a blip, and the word spread from operations rooms into ordinary speech. The figurative sense — *just a blip in the figures* — followed in the 1970s, from the idea of a momentary spike that soon disappears.
- A radar mark. *A blip on the screen.*
- A brief deviation. *Just a blip.*
- A short sound. *A blip.*
- Radar — where it spread. *Radar.*
- Imitative. *From 1894.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | blip | A blip. |
| Plural | blips | Blips. |
| Verb | blip | Blipped. |
| Related | beep | A beep. |
| Coined | 1894 | Imitative. |
- A blip appeared on the radar.Screen.
- It was only a blip in sales.Figurative.
- Radar gave the word currency.History.
Words radar gave English
- Blip — a return echo on the screen
- Under the radar — escaping notice
- On my radar — within my awareness
- Ping — the outgoing pulse, borrowed from sonar
- Clutter — unwanted returns obscuring the signal
Imitative, recorded from 1894 for a short sound, and from the 1940s for a radar echo.
Did blip come from radar?
Not originally. It is recorded from 1894 as an imitative word for a short sound, but radar in the 1940s made it widely known.
Why does blip mean a temporary setback?
From the image of a momentary spike on a screen or graph that disappears again, so it is not part of the real trend.