Etymology: Air Guitar

Here's your etymology lesson for the day: air guitar.

(A Verb)

1. intr. To mime the action of playing a guitar, esp. to a recording or performance of rock music.

This now epic verb was first coined in the now infamous 1983 tome "Complete Air Guitar Handbook," by the trusty J. MCKENNA & M. MOFFITT. You might be surprised to learn that Neil Young, of all people, is the first human being to have been recorded air-riffing (at least according to the Oxford English Dictionary).

2. trans. To mime the action of playing (music) on a guitar.

The OED actually cites an episode of Sopranos: 1999 J. CAHILL Guy walks into Psychiatrist's Office in Sopranos (television shooting script). "He drums the wheel, air-guitars the heavy riffs"

DERIVATIVES
As McKenna and Moffit wrote in 1983, "We feel the only pants to wear for heavy-duty air guitaring are jeans." No doubt.