# Words that have suddenly become very popular **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 5, 2020, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962 "2020-03-05T13:38:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/61 "2020-03-08T03:33:00Z")
I feel like I never heard anyone say “he’s Military” or “he’s Air Force” or “He’s Army” when I was a kid (the 90s), they would say “he’s IN the Air Force” or whatever. Today the “adjective-noun” use seems to be more common. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/62 "2020-03-08T04:17:26Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > I can’t believe I wasn’t aware that you could do this with Trends. Thanks! > > (You now have my unshakeable fealty) Hahaha, glad it was helpful. For longer time periods I’ve used their nGram page, which has archived books, journals etc back to the early 1800s. I just love how people are building access to information around these things! ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/63 "2020-03-08T04:29:05Z")
I had a few mock turtleneck shirts in the early 90s. Remember those? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/64 "2020-03-08T04:44:51Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > Two or three years ago the word **egregious** (re)appeared from nowhere and was suddenly all over the place. It’s a _local_ word, for _local_ people! > **[The League of Gentlemen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_League_of_Gentlemen)** > > The League of Gentlemen is a surreal British comedy horror sitcom that premiered on BBC Two in 1999. The programme is set in Royston Vasey, a fictional town in northern England, originally based on Alston, Cumbria, and follows the lives of bizarre characters, most of whom are played by three of the show's four writers – Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton, and Reece Shearsmith – who, along with Jeremy Dyson, formed the League of Gentlemen comedy troupe in 1995. The series originally aired for thre Th... ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/65 "2020-03-08T05:13:11Z")
“Agency,” in the sense of the sociopolitical definition of “the ability to have oneself be heard or to influence one’s own destiny” popped out of the blue about seven or eight years ago, likely emerging from sociology departments, and is now everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/66 "2020-03-08T13:08:14Z")
“Because [noun]” like “because racism” instead of “because of racism” or “because he is racist .” ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/67 "2020-03-08T13:19:14Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > “Agency,” in the sense of the sociopolitical definition of “the ability to have oneself be heard or to influence one’s own destiny” popped out of the blue about seven or eight years ago, likely emerging from sociology departments, and is now everywhere. Another word that came out of academic usage surprisingly recently is “sibling” - before about 1980 or so, people said “brothers and sisters” not “siblings” [Google Ngram Viewer](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=sibling&year_start=1900&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Csibling%3B%2Cc0#t1%3B%2Csibling%3B%2Cc0) shows a smooth increase from no uses at all in 1915 to fairly common in 2000 - but looking at the specific uses up to 1970, one finds only technical uses of “sibling.” ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/68 "2020-03-08T17:50:05Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > Another word that came out of academic usage surprisingly recently is “sibling” - before about 1980 or so, people said “brothers and sisters” not “siblings” > > [Google Ngram Viewer](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=sibling&year_start=1900&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Csibling%3B%2Cc0#t1%3B%2Csibling%3B%2Cc0) shows a smooth increase from no uses at all in 1915 to fairly common in 2000 - but looking at the specific uses up to 1970, one finds only technical uses of “sibling.” Ngram does not show what words people are _ **saying** _, so it’s not a reflection of words suddenly becoming “very popular.” It only shows individual books, scanned once. It also draws disproportionately from scientific texts, as it goes back in time. For this reason, you cannot use Ngram as a way to see if people are _ **actually saying** _ a word like “siblings” more. It’s completely useless for that. For that, you need to use a real, linguistically coded corpus. As an example, put a word like “couch” into Ngram, and–if you’re trying to use it in that way-- it will apparently tell you that word has suddenly become extremely popular since 1980. But this isn’t necessarily the case, and probably isn’t the case. I wouldn’t rely on Ngram to make any serious conclusions about words becoming “very popular” in recent times. I think a lot of the words mentioned in this thread are more cases of confirmation bias, and I imagine actual corpus data might contradict many of these subjective impressions. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/69 "2020-03-08T18:18:19Z")
> [@russian\_heel](#): > > “Pronoun” in place of “gender” ie “Im not sure what gender Howey identities with I hope I call him or her or they by the right pronoun > [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Pronoun doesn’t mean gender, not now nor has it ever. It means respecting a person by referring to them how THEY want to be referred. It’s just a matter of respect. > [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Ah, but pronouns have genders. They always have had. [Grammatical gender - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatical_gender) Pronouns are relayed to grammatical gender, but grammatical gender is not the same thing as the gender of a person. And Russian Heel’s original comment shows that “pronoun” is not being used as a synonym for “gender.” Asking someone’s gender and asking es preferred pronouns are two different questions. The first question might be very complicated and personal. The second has explicitly to do with common social interactions. ---
**Author:** ![Manlob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Manlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manlob)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/70 "2020-03-08T18:40:46Z")
I have been noticing “narrative” being used more frequently over the past few years. Just this morning on one of the Sunday morning news shows somebody seemed obsessed with “inflection point”, using it at least 3 times in a minute or two, although I have not been hearing that one excessively. The phrase that seems to have really taken off in recent years is “that being said” or “that said”. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/71 "2020-03-08T18:44:51Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Ngram does not show what words people are _ **saying** _, so it’s not a reflection of words suddenly becoming “very popular.” It only shows individual books, scanned once. It also draws disproportionately from scientific texts, as it goes back in time. For this reason, you cannot use Ngram as a way to see if people are _ **actually saying** _ a word like “siblings” more. It’s completely useless for that. For that, you need to use a real, linguistically coded corpus. Fair enough. I shouldn’t have used Ngram to discuss “sibling” The earliest cite for the use of “sibling” to mean “brother or sister” in the OED is from the biostatistician Karl Pearson in 1903 (and in that cite, he’s clearly inventing the word, since he has to explain what it means parenthetically). The earliest non-technical use of the term I see in the OED is from 1957, so my memories of not hearing people use the word casually until the 1990s or so is plausible at least… A search in the Washington Post for 1/1/1980 to 1/1/1990 shows 7 pages of uses of “sibling” For 1/1/1970 - 1980 shows only 8 uses (not 8 pages, just 8) 2000-2010 - 14 pages of use. (the Post isn’t a corpus of spoken English but it’s something) (I do agree that confirmation bias is a thing that has to be taken into account (see my first posts in this thread)). P.S. Regional variation also should be noted - I never heard the term “teeter-totter” in spoken speech - because I was in a “seesaw” area. If I had moved as a child, I would have noticed a sudden change in usage that reflected my move, not a real change in what people were saying, ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/72 "2020-03-08T19:21:21Z")
> [@BeagleJesus](#): > > I hate the word “misspoke” > > A weaselly little word that allows people to avoid consequences when they let the wrong shit fall out of their mouths. Yeah. A cousin to “mistakes were made”. “I’m just saying” is another infernally weaselly term some use when to do that too. I’d rather they actually try to defend their statement, beneath reproach as it is, then use a pathetic non-sequitur to weasel their way out. If their mouths write a check, their asses better be ready to cash it. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/73 "2020-03-08T20:33:22Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > Fair enough. I shouldn’t have used Ngram to discuss “sibling” > > The earliest cite for the use of “sibling” to mean “brother or sister” in the OED is from the biostatistician Karl Pearson in 1903 (and in that cite, he’s clearly inventing the word, since he has to explain what it means parenthetically). The earliest non-technical use of the term I see in the OED is from 1957, so my memories of not hearing people use the word casually until the 1990s or so is plausible at least… > > A search in the Washington Post for 1/1/1980 to 1/1/1990 shows 7 pages of uses of “sibling” > > For 1/1/1970 - 1980 shows only 8 uses (not 8 pages, just 8) > > 2000-2010 - 14 pages of use. > > (the Post isn’t a corpus of spoken English but it’s something) > > (I do agree that confirmation bias is a thing that has to be taken into account (see my first posts in this thread)). > > P.S. Regional variation also should be noted - I never heard the term “teeter-totter” in spoken speech - because I was in a “seesaw” area. If I had moved as a child, I would have noticed a sudden change in usage that reflected my move, not a real change in what people were saying, Well, that would align with data from the Corpus of Contemporary American English, (going back to 1990, an aggregation of things like spoken English on TV and radio, magazines, various online, newspapers–including the _Washington Post_–etc.), which show that _siblings_ (plural) has indeed increased within the last 30 years: [For _siblings_ (plural) this chart shows](https://drive.google.com/open?id=1JUWkOvqRow3GXScw3i80COMJ2JUHqAGC) that there was an increase in frequency between 1995 and 2005, but that in the last 15 years it’s been about level. [For _sibling_ (singular) this chart shows](https://drive.google.com/open?id=1XvIqz4Cqj4GjPTfoi4J1_nKx7t-Fvhg9) somewhat of an increase over the last 30 years, but actually a slight decrease since 2005. Interestingly, though, the charts and these disaggregated data lists ([SIBLING](https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Qnga3FJHPiD2TJwuN7_6OqNa390jCgQh), [SIBLINGS](https://drive.google.com/open?id=1pUmbP4XwnsK5b9ck4ZmEd_T4d0ltl9Tp)) show that spoken use (at least on these TV and radio shows) of both terms is not really that high–rather, it’s things like (children’s) magazines and newspapers, which I suppose makes sense, because, really, it’s often more awkward to use the phrase _brothers and sisters_ in complex sentences, and with possessive constructions, etc. There are corpora of speech in more spontaneous contexts that could be searched, but that would take more time (that I don’t have at the moment). ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/74 "2020-03-08T20:40:22Z")
ETA: One other thing to keep in mind is that uses of terms in both newspapers and magazines often are quotations, and that corpus doesn’t allow to disaggregate that. ---
**Author:** ![EdelweissPirate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8491ac/32.png) [@EdelweissPirate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EdelweissPirate)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/75 "2020-03-08T20:55:59Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > “Because [noun]” like “because racism” instead of “because of racism” or “because he is racist .” This one has a definitive origin. It first appeared in a craigslist ad in 2011: [BECAUSE RACE CAR | Know Your Meme](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/because-race-car?full=1) ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/76 "2020-03-08T21:29:13Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > I had a few mock turtleneck shirts in the early 90s. Remember those? Remember? I just received two in the mail yesterday from Lands End, to go with my other three. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/77 "2020-03-08T21:30:23Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Well, that would align with data from the Corpus of Contemporary American English, (going back to 1990, an aggregation of things like spoken English on TV and radio, magazines, various online, newspapers–including the _Washington Post_–etc.), which show that _siblings_ (plural) has indeed increased within the last 30 years: > > [For _siblings_ (plural) this chart shows](https://drive.google.com/open?id=1JUWkOvqRow3GXScw3i80COMJ2JUHqAGC) that there was an increase in frequency between 1995 and 2005, but that in the last 15 years it’s been about level. > > [For _sibling_ (singular) this chart shows](https://drive.google.com/open?id=1XvIqz4Cqj4GjPTfoi4J1_nKx7t-Fvhg9) somewhat of an increase over the last 30 years, but actually a slight decrease since 2005. > > Interestingly, though, the charts and these disaggregated data lists ([SIBLING](https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Qnga3FJHPiD2TJwuN7_6OqNa390jCgQh), [SIBLINGS](https://drive.google.com/open?id=1pUmbP4XwnsK5b9ck4ZmEd_T4d0ltl9Tp)) show that spoken use (at least on these TV and radio shows) of both terms is not really that high–rather, it’s things like (children’s) magazines and newspapers, which I suppose makes sense, because, really, it’s often more awkward to use the phrase _brothers and sisters_ in complex sentences, and with possessive constructions, etc. > > There are corpora of speech in more spontaneous contexts that could be searched, but that would take more time (that I don’t have at the moment). Thank you for checking this. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/78 "2020-03-08T22:41:57Z")
> [@Corry\_El](#): > > I agree, getting a pet at the pound or through ‘a rescue’ is…well, a rescue. It somebody were really calling a dog bought from a breeder or at a pet store a rescue that would be screwed up, and I doubt that happens much. But I assume the previous poster just feels it’s pretentious to call a dog you got at ‘the pound’ a ‘rescue’. All our and grown kids’ dogs have been, I don’t typically refer to them as ‘rescues’ in part because yeah that’s a more popular word now and I’m older. I may well mention they come from X shelter though to people curious about them. That might help other dogs at the shelter, if people know that the ‘pit bull’ so pretty and cute that they stopped to comment on it, then saw how sweet it was, came from that shelter. Since there are more where they came from. Just one more on “rescues.” Since I’ve been an adult, we’ve gotten our dogs from breed-specifc (i.e. dachshund) rescue. They come from multiple sources (our previous pair were “rescued” from a kill shelter the day before their final day). Our current doxie came from a good home, but his owners died, and the adult son was getting a divorce and could only keep one of the dogs in his apartment. We got Max. I consider this a rescue. If you get a dog from a no-kill shelter, you’re giving him a home, but not “rescuing” him in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/79 "2020-03-08T22:46:24Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > I had a few mock turtleneck shirts in the early 90s. Remember those? I like the soup they make out of the mock turtles, myself. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-have-suddenly-become-very-popular/848962/80 "2020-03-09T23:54:53Z")
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