I read somewhere that it was an early twentieth century "word" that fell out of use and has made a comeback and has always been "low-brow". I'm too lazy to look it up.
BTW, you can add cromulent to the list...
I'd understood the same, again no sources to back it up. I specifically recall in high school someone said it, and the whole class, teacher included, ripped into him saying "that's not a real word". Came back with pages upon pages of proof that yeah, it's a word.
And I like cromulent. Can't go wrong with a Simpsons reference. But I don't hear it used to often so that might be part of it.