Where does “cute-'em-up” come from?

cute-'em-up (English) comes from English cute, from English acūte, from French aigu, from German akut, from Italian acuto, from Russian аку́т, from Spanish agudo, from Latin acūtus — sharp.

cute-'em-up (English): A shoot 'em up game with a cute, cartoonish aesthetic

Definitions

  1. A shoot 'em up game with a cute, cartoonish aesthetic

Ancestry of “cute-'em-up”, step by step

cute-'em-up traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English cute

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishcutePossessing physical features, behaviors,...
2EnglishacūteBrief, quick, short
3Frenchaigusharp, pointy; acute, keen, discerning; sharp,...
4Germanakutacute; severe
5Italianacutoacute; sharp; high-pitched, high, shrill
6Russianаку́тacute accent
7Spanishagudosharp, pointed, acute; acute, sharp, witty, keen;...
8Latinacūtussharpened, made sharp, sharp, having been sharpened
9Latinacuōto make pointed, sharpen, whet
10Latinacusa needle, a pin; bodkin; bran, awn, chaff
11Proto-Italicakus
12Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂eḱus
13Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂eḱ-sharp

via English shoot 'em up

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Englishshoot 'em upA piece of media which depicts considerable gunplay
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₂eḱ-