Here are a few of the newer words and phrases in English, listed by decade (when they first appeared in print or caught on). I list those I am most likely to use in writing, not counting proper nouns:
1950s: agribusiness, alien (from outer space), big picture, bipolar (psychiatric), body bag, byte, car wash, carbon dating, centre stage, centrefold, cognitive dissonance, country music, criminalize, desegregation, doublespeak, downplay, dreadlocks, gunpoint, hack/er, hang-up (emotional), homophobia, low blow, meritocracy, nerd, online, oral history, overkill, prejudiced (racial), press release, press secretary, record player, redline, security guard, sensitivity training, sex change, skinhead, slumlord, strung out, think tank, time warp, track record, uncool, videotape.
1960s: affirmative action, Afro, be into (be a fan of), Black is beautiful, blow your mind, body count, born-again, bottom line, brain drain, chart (music sales), cherry pick, come out of the closet, counterinsurgency, database, fortune cookie, genetic code, gentrification, get it together, get real, good old boy, hard line, hardwired, hippie, hit man, interstate, knock-off (an imitation), laid-back, lighten up, log in, market share, mental illness, military-industrial complex, No way!, one-hit wonder, Oreo, outgoing, pants suit, petting zoo, porn, pusher (drugs), put-down, real world, reggae, rock (music), sampler, second language, sell out, serial killer, single parent, sitcom, ska, skateboard, soul music, stripper, talking head, tax break, tip of the iceberg, tokenism, unreal, update, upmarket, whistle-blower, white flight, women’s studies, X-rated.
1970s: airhead, blaxploitation, child abuse, complicit, confirmation bias, cornrows, crossover (music), disco, domestic violence, feel-good, gaslighting (psychological), General Tso’s chicken, alien mind control, go for it, green (friendly to the environment), human (instead of “man”), infomercial, karaoke, no-brainer, PG-rated, quick-and-dirty, sexual harassment, solar power, someone who (more common than “he who” by 1977), sound bite, street crime, uh-oh!, video game.
1980s: AIDS, air guitar, awesome (as a vogue word), brainiac, CEO, climate change, crack (cocaine), crackhead, cyberspace, domain name, download, email, evil twin, exit poll, gazillion, glass ceiling, global warming, good to go, goth, hate crime, heads-up (warning), high five, hip hop, homeschool, laptop, mainstream media, moving goalposts, neocon, rust belt, same-sex, smoothie (drink), spin (affect news reporting), spoiler (film), talk radio, Teflon (metaphorical use), transgender, upload, urban legend, username, wannabe, way (very, extremely), workaround.
1990s: deep state, downside (disadvantage), DVD, ethnic cleansing, euro, FAQ, gaydar, hate speech, have issues, home page, hoodie, HTML, Islamophobia, jihadist, LMAO, LOL, lurker (Internet), malware, Not!, OMG, photoshop, poster child, racial profiling, reality television, screenshot, server (computer), spam (email), to guilt, to out someone, troll (Internet), URL, viral (Internet), website, wedge issue, Wi-Fi.
2000s: blue state, bot, bwahaha, CGI, coon (Stacey Dash, etc), credit crunch, drone (military), embedded (with the military), Fail!, fracking, go off on, hashtag (Internet), google, it is what it is, phishing, progressive (left of centre-left), SARS, selfie, snarky, social media, straight-up, sudoku, subprime, to text, tweet (Internet), twerk, underwater (mortgage), waterboarding (torture), wiki, WMD.
2010s: alt-right, Black lives matter, burkini, cisgender, clickbait, columbusing, emoji, fake news, mass incarceration, microaggression, smartphone, the 1%, to trend (online), White fragility, whitesplain.
– Abagond, 2017.
Sources: mainly “English Through the Ages (1998) William Brohaugh; Online Etymology Dictionary (2008); Google Books Ngram Viewer (2008); the 224,000 comments on this blog (2007-17).
See also:
- words
- New words from 1983 to 2012 – that are frequently used in comments.
- Words I use that are not in Shakespeare
- Anachronistic words in Spielberg’s “Lincoln”
- 1949
- how daily life has changed in the last 30 years
568
Addition in 2010s – “alternative facts” 🙂
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Reblogged this on IBHE Collaborative University and commented:
A good English Comp read in Vocabulary
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2010s – Misogynoir
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Awesome (as a vogue word) dates only from the 1980s? What was said in that case before the 1980s? “Marvellous,” perhaps?
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@ Jeff Elberfeld
Awesome used to be used sparingly to decribe things that were awe inspiring.
Now most Americans (especially young, coastal dwellers) use the word to describe everything from their morning coffee to their last beer at night.
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Before the 1980s, young Euro-Americans used the words, “cool” and “groovy”.
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1980s – Political Correct & Political Correctness (I know they had been used before but the terms did not catch on and become widely used until the 80s)
2010s – Mansplain & Mansplaining
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In Canada they say ‘fcuking eh!’. Don’t ask me what era that was or is.
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@ Herneith
LOL!
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stop trying to edumacate us!
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you forgot ‘date rape’ from the ’80s
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@afrofem, herneith and abagond:
Thank you all! 🙂
I asked the question because I read this article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2733912/No-longer-marvellous-awesome-Britons-using-American-words-traditional-English-decline.html :
‘The rise of ‘awesome’ seems to provide evidence of American English’s influence on British speakers.’
Anyway, thanks again,
Jeff
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dont forget fantabulous
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@ Jeff Elberfeld
Thanks for the link.
The language seepage goes both ways. I know some Americans who use the terms, “one off” to describe a one time event, “knock on effect” to describe results of actions and “pub” for bar or tavern.
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@Herneith
They say that in the US too (spelled “A”)…particularly among white male millennials (another new word, e.g., someone born in the 80s-90s).
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I remember the word “Burkini” being used from as far back as 2007.
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STEM – 2005
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Added “record player” to the 1950s.
Source:
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=gramophone
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