The Merriam-Webster dictionary has a feature that allows you to look up by year the time words were first published. One curious thing I noticed is that there are huge numbers of words introduced in the 40s on, most of them technical and scientific words, but in more recent years the number of novel words is drying up. Why? I don’t know.
I did look up what words were introduced in the year I was born, and there were lots of them. But this series caught my attention.
I think it means that emotionally I am far more childish than my advanced years would imply.
Hmmm, that’s my year too. I quite like Fantabulous Femme Flick-Knife. I was quite surprised by bitchin’, I had thought that was late ’60s-early’70s slang. It certainly got a lot of use then.
Hmmm, that’s my year too. I quite like Fantabulous Femme Flick-Knife. I was surprised by bitchin’, I had thought that was late ’60s – early ’70s slang. Certainly got used a lot then.
I presume it’s in part the same reason there were few classic songs made this decade — it takes a while to decide whether something is a classic song (or a word).
Keep an eye on the OED for new words. They are extremely aggressive in tracking them down. http://public.oed.com/the-oed-today/recent-updates-to-the-oed/
I got “creation science” and “major depression” in my YOB, I wonder if they’re linked…
1948 — “missionary position”, “quantum field theory”, and “transistor”…Now I understand.
’54 was a good ‘un! Some highlights: black power, double helix, hallucinogen, mondegreen, rock’n’roll, sci-fi, solar battery, time warp.
Among others, mine says “bum-rush”. *snigger*
Also, “sexual predator”. Hm.
Rob:
You got all the good things.
Stressed out cruelty free lap dancing
Okay.
From 1950 antimatter, Californium, LSD, shopping mall, et alia.
Let’s just take a look at 1990… oh. okay.
“intelligent design”
But hey, I got World Wide Web velociraptor props. And yet the middle continues to be marked as not a word.
aaaand… “transmissible spongiform encephalopathy”.
A sampling of 1971…
anti-elitist
beatbox
camerawoman
crapshoot
dominatrix
gonzo
lacto-vegetarian
megacorporation
newsie
open marriage
stoner
tight-ass
username
Google Books Ngram Viewer is IMO more interesting, and somewhat more accurate (though imperfect).
https://books.google.com/ngrams
Note that there are different forms of words, e.g. a preference for anti-matter vs antimatter changed at various periods, going back well before 1950.
THERE WERE MANY TERRIBLE THINGS NAMED IN THE YEAR I WAS BORN (1984). GLUTE. HIPSTER HOT SAUCE (sriracha). HANTAVIRUS. SPIN DOCTOR. EVEN THE WORD “SUCKY.”
Oh, and also: CAPS LOCK.
1953 has some interesting ones, such as…
stiletto heel
HeLa cell
ballpoint pen
ecosphere
… and amazingly,
frenemy
1986 is almost all to do with HIV and crack cocaine.
Well that was depressing.
Wow, same year as me!
I think it is not a coincidence that ‘fantabulous’ entered the lexicon that year!!!
In 1974 came:
agony aunt
Internet
GPS
fly–on–the–wall
string bikini
string cheese
supermom
biofuel
Heimlich maneuver
Oh, and also
trangender
nongay
Afropop
supersymmetry
life support
I entered 1946, The Year of the Donald. A sampling:
over-the-hill
functional illiterate
spiny-headed worm
1979 features a lot of things that I would qualify as “unfortunate”… perhaps my birth year is when it was all starting to go to pot? Or perhaps just the year when everyone became aware of it going to pot?
A sampling… outsourcing, female genital mutilation, homeschooler, smoke and mirrors, neocon, and one of my personal favorites “first world problems” (and by favorite, I mean ‘word that forces me resist punching whoever used it right in the face’). Also, apparently that was the year for creation science AND identity politics.
Curiously, it also includes freebase, food court, and balloon angioplasty. Also, canola. So there is that.
A sample of 1981:
ableism, amped, cred, dongle, gateway drug, infomercial, lemon law, snowboard, technobabble, uninstall, warm fuzzies
1961. Chocoholic. Mmmmm!
1955:
Aerospace
Artificial Intelligence
Big Bang Theory
Could be worse.
1954
rock ‘n’roll, dysphoria, moped, hexadecimal, wonk, self-exploration … hmmm.
# 19 chigau
Clearly the arrival of the Donald was being heralded . It seems a bit like the magi showing up.
I was born in 1969, which explains why that was the year ‘studly’ was added to the English lexicon.