There’s been quite a bit of discussion of late as to whether we’re heading into the next Great Depression, and something just occurred to me this morning as I was sitting up unable to sleep: during the Depression, did people call it that? And if not, when did it start being referred to that way? Obviously at the start, people would not have called it that, but possibly some part of the way through, it might have happened.
Any historians/linguists out there have any idea?
So when did you loose your job back then?
Moderating.
Ray, welcome to the boards.
Since this thread is in General Questions, asking a serious question, you should reply if you can help answer the question.
Joke posts and one-liners are OK, but try to insert them well after the questions have been answered–not the first drive-by post.
samclem General Questions Moderator
Calling the 30s “The Depression” started out relatively early. The OED has a quote from 1935 referring to it, and I’d figure it was used even sooner. At the time, “Depression” was the euphemistic term for an economic downturn (replacing “panic”), so it was probably used as soon at it was apparent the economy was tanking. Now, we use “recession” or “downturn” to indicate economic problems.
“Great Depression” came later. During the thirties, there was no need to specify which depression you were referring to.