Fifty Years of New Words

Because procrastinating is fun, I thought I'd present the following. In the introduction to the Webster's College Dictionary from 2001 they have this introduction talking about defining the English language in the 21st century and such and such. In addition to a brief history of dictionary-ing in the past century (for (por ejemplo, noted lexicographer Clarence L. Barnhart's ACD boasted of more than 132,000 words, as compared to Noah Webster's paltry 75,000...I smell sitcom!), the intro also has a nifty little section that shows the vocabulary additions from each decade, from the 1940s through the 1990s. From an almost anthropological stand point, it's quite the something or other to trace history through the words that were born out of each period. At risk of sounding like a linguaphile Billy Joel, here's a small sampling.

New Words of the 1940s

A-bomb; ack-ack; bazooka; bikini; Dixiecrat; dream team; fellow traveler; flying saucer; Molotov cocktail; G-suit; pro-am; name-brand; TV; redeploy; returnee; robot bomb; radar; tape recorder; test drive; underwhelm; xerography; yada-yada-yada.

New Words of the 1950s

acrylic fiber; A-OK; automate; beatnik; beltway; biathlon; biological clock; Black Muslim; brinkmanship; death row; computerize; demolition derby; fartlek; dreadlocks; Eurodollar; Freudian slip; funny farm; hovercraft; generative grammar; jet set; neutron bomb; off-Broadway; poliovirus; radio galaxy; sci-fi; rock n' roll; teleplay; trannsexual; TV dinner; UFO; uncool; underachieve; video tape; zydeco

New Words of the 1960s

acidhead; ageism; auteur; biohazard; blind trust; born again; central processing unit; cryonics; crib death; cold call; decriminalize; ecocatastrophe; dashiki; glam; gypsy cab; happy hour; love-in; nose job; nunuchaku; porn; repo; sitcom; spacewalk; vroom; workaholic; zilch; zit

New Words of the 1970s

acquaintance rape; airhead; anchorperson; brewski; CAT scan; child abuse; controlled substance; copay; China syndrome; def; diskette; detox; 800 number; gentrify; fast-forward; laid back; he/she; nouvelle cuisine; learning disability; pro-choice; sex change; surrogate mother; sound bite; word processor; triathlon; X-rated; yellow rain.

New Words of the 1980s

ableism; abs; AIDS; crackhouse; computer virus; DNA fingerprinting; dockominium; e-book; energy bar; Humvee; fatwa; gateway drug; gluts; headbanger; intrapreneur; hidden agenda; glastnost; liposuction; 900 number; nuclear winter; Rollerblade; slim disease; tree-hugger; triple witching hour; trophy wife; Twelve Step; WYSIWYG; yuppie.

New Words of the 1990s

active-matrix; anatomically correct; antialiasing; applet; body double; carjacking; CD; digerati; domain name; dramedy; ethnic cleansing; hyperlink; Generation X; Generation Y; granny dumpling; intifada; jaggies, kenbei; killer app; laogai; lap dance; mad cow disease; magalogue, McJob; stranger rape; strip mall; roofie; Roth IRA; scrunchy; World Wide Web; zettabyte.