I love looking back at the English language and seeing how many new words and phrases we've been able to collectively bring into the common culture.
It's just so fascinating to see how society can evolve the way we speak over such a relatively short amount of time! For example, not many of us use phrases like "chrome plated" or "word from the bird" as much as folks did back in the 1950s, but it's fun to look back on the era.
On the opposite side of the coin, we've recently added quite a few new words and phrases to our dictionaries and vocabularies that would have totally confused someone just 40 years ago. Thanks to the boost in technology and other pop culture trends from the past four decades, it feels like we add new jargon on a daily basis.
Take a look at some of the creative modern terms and sayings we've coined over the years.
Did we miss any new words or phrases that you use frequently?
Let us know in the comments and be sure to SHARE with your friends and family!
1. Eye Candy
Year of origin: 1978
After singer Helen Reddy released her 1977 hit song "Ear Candy," the confectionary term caught on with a 1978 review for Three's Company in the Oakland Tribune: "They call the new show 'eye candy.'"
2. Infomercial
Year of origin: 1982
As one of the earliest producers of the late-night, program-length commercials, Paul Ruffino gave the quirky advertisements the portmanteau of "information" and "commercial" when they first began airing.
3. Baby Bump
Year of origin: 2002
Bonnie Fuller, the former editor-in-chief of US Weekly, is credited with coining the term back while she zealously sought out photographic evidence of celebrities in the family way.
4. Bromance
Year of origin: 1990s
As the former editor-in-chief of the skateboard magazine Big Brother, Dave Carnie was the first person to notably use the term throughout the decade while discussing the close bond between skaters. He has since jokingly apologized for bringing the word into pop culture.
5. FAQ
Year of origin: 1982
The abbreviation for "frequently asked questions" is largely attributed to NASA employee Eugene Miya. While formatting a mailing list, she ran out of room for the full phrase.
6. Fashionista
Year of origin: 1993
Journalist Stephen Fried was the first to publish the term, doing so in his biography of tragic supermodel Gia Carangi. However, like Dave Carnie with "bromance," Stephen has since apologized for coining the term, calling it a "crime against nomenclature."
7. Bling
Year of origin: 1990s
One of the first appearances was when comedian Martin Lawrence poked fun at an old toothpaste commercial which used a ringing sound and sparkling visual effect on the actors' teeth, with Martin using the onomatopoeia "bling" to refer to shiny jewelry instead.
He spread the term further on his popular 1993 sitcom Martin with the over-the-top character Jerome, played by Martin, using it to discuss his many diamond necklaces and rings on every finger.
8. Foodie
Year of origin: 1980
New York Magazine food critic Gael Greene reportedly coined the word in June 1980 while describing someone as a person who "slips into the small Art Deco dining room of Restaurant d'Olympe… to graze cheeks with her devotees, serious foodies."
9. Photobomb
Year of origin: 2008
Obviously, people have been jumping into the frame of other folks' photos for as long as cameras have been around, but the goof wasn't given a name until the first recorded mention of it on Urban Dictionary in 2008.
10. Man Cave
Year of origin: 1992
The Toronto Star was the first publication to use the term, in March 1992, a month before the book Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus by John Gray was released and mentioned males' need to "retreat" when dealing with stress.
11. Dramedy
Year of origin: 1978
The combination of "comedy" and "drama" was first seen printed in a TV Guide description of the Richard Dreyfuss film The Big Fix, but didn't really catch on until about a decade later when a string of TV series like Hooperman and Hill Street Blues began blurring the line between the genres.
12. Upcycle
Year of origin: 1994
This was coined by Thornton Kay in an article for Salvo, stating that recycling wasn't enough and that "what we need is upcycling, where old products are given more value, not less."
13. Google
Year of origin: 2002
Though the site was founded in 1996, it wasn't until later that using the name as a verb, meaning to search for information, became popular. It was first recorded in a 2002 episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It became an official word in 2006.
Did we miss any of your favorite new words or phrases? Let us know below and be sure to SHARE with your friends!
