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Glite Dictionary
Supertramp

Supertramp

3 7.6
A British rock band known for melodic pop-rock songs from the 1970s and 1980s
  • proper noun
: Supertramp
  • In a recent telephone interview from his home, Hodgson spoke about the upcoming tour and why it's called Breakfast in America, the legacy of Supertramp, and what he's like as an artist today.
  • Supertramp song

Examples

  • - Hey, I like Supertramp!

    Out of the Blue (1981)

  • I thought Supertramp was a great band.

    Blog text (14)

  • I was proud of Supertramp.

    Blog text (14)

  • "The last band tour of America, I guess, was Supertramp in '83."

    Blog text (14)

  • Am I correct that Rick Davies still tours with Supertramp?

    Blog text (14)

  • Hodgson fronted the group Supertramp, and that tour capped a run that saw the band sell 6 million albums in six years and have six Top 15 hits.

    Blog text (14)

  • "There were two writers in Supertramp—myself and Richard Davis—and we worked totally separately, even though the songs are credited jointly; we were very much like Lennon and McCartney."

    Blog text (14)

  • Many people enjoy listening to the music of Supertramp, especially the hits from the 1970s.

  • The album 'Breakfast in America' by Supertramp features some of their most popular songs.

  • I saw Supertramp perform live in concert last summer, and it was an incredible experience.

Surface Forms

Supertramp main

Morphology

Supertramp = super + tramp (semi-transparent) = super + tramp

Formed from two transparent English words, but as a band name the compound functions as an arbitrary proper noun rather than a regular lexical compound.

Etymology

Supertramp is the name of a British band and comes from a book called 'The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp' by W. H. Davies. Break it into super- ('very' or 'above') and tramp ('wanderer'), so the name paints a picture of a very free, traveling person and helps explain why it works as a band's adventurous name.