Cyber Quiz: List-7: Annual Champion Words: A Word A Year (1904-2004)

What have the following words in common:

mobile phone(1945),cyborg (1960),byte(1964),microchip(1969),double click (1984),virtual reality(1987),applet (1987),URL(1992),dot commer(1997),text message(1998)and Google(1999)?

Well,they all could be said to be annual champion words, characterising the year indicated in parentheses!

This is the second language report*, the first having been published in 2003(it contained much of the vocabulary of war). Author Susie Dent,a lexicographer of British TV words and numbers game Count Down (http://www.thecountdownpage.com/)fame argues that every year one word is born into the English language which says something about the preoccupations of the time.She has come out with a 100-year list from 1904 to 2004.

It is an interesting exercise charting a century of new words,and it has many surprises too (for example,in knowing that the word celeb is as old as 1913 or that year 1992 was characterized by the word URL(uniform resource locator).A number of words no doubt have been contributed by the information and communication technologies(ICTs). A browsing of the 100-year list,reproduced below,is a rewarding
experience.

Here are then three new words: larper, shroomer(from the title of the book)and chav,the buzzword of 2004:

LARPer:(noun)(from 'Live Action Role Playing')a person who re-enacts fantasy scenarios by dressing up and assuming character roles.

shroomer:(noun) a person who takes hallucinogenic ('magic') mushrooms.

Chav: It probably began in Chatham, Kent, as a derogatory label for an older underclass, gypsies. From the Romany word for a child,chavi,the term is used to describe young uncouth or aggressive persons who wear cheap gold jewellery and baseball caps and hang around in shopping centres all over Britain.See also Michael Quinion’s World Wide Words at http://www.worldwidewords.org/topicalwords/tw-cha2.htm.

Here is the 100-year list:

ANNUAL CHAMPION WORDS: SUSIE DENT'S A WORD A YEAR: 1904-2004
____________________________________________________________

1904 hip
1905 whizzo
1906 teddy bear
1907 egghead
1908 realpolitik
1909 tiddly-om-pom-pom
1910 sacred cow
1911 gene
1912 blues
1913 celeb
1914 cheerio
1915 civvy street
1916 U-boat
1917 tailspin
1918 ceasefire
1919 ad-lib
1920 demob
1921 pop
1922 wizard
1923 hem-line
1924 lumpenproletariat
1925 avant garde
1926 kitsch
1927 sudden death
1928 Big Apple
1929 sex
1930 drive-in
1931 Mickey Mouse
1932 bagel
1933 dumb down
1934 pesticide
1935 racism
1936 spliff
1937 dunk
1938 cheeseburger
1939 Blitzkrieg
1940 Molotov cocktail
1941 snafu
1942 buzz
1943 pissed off
1944 DNA
1945 mobile phone
1946 megabucks
1947 Wonderbra
1948 cool
1949 Big Brother
1950 brainwashing
1951 fast food
1952 Generation X
1953 hippy
1954 non-U
1955 boogie
1956 sexy
1957 psychedelic
1958 beatnik
1959 cruise missile
1960 cyborg
1961 awesome
1962 bossa nova
1963 peacenik
1964 byte
1965 miniskirt
1966 acid
1967 love-in
1968 It-girl
1969 microchip
1970 hypermarket
1971 green
1972 Watergate
1973 F-word
1974 punk
1975 detox
1976 Trekkie
1977 naff all
1978 trainers
1979 karaoke
1980 power dressing
1981 toy-boy
1982 hip-hop
1983 beatbox
1984 double-click
1985 OK yah
1986 mobile
1987 virtual reality
1988 gangsta
1989 latte
1990 applet
1991 hot-desking
1992 URL
1993 have it large
1994 Botox
1995 kitten heels
1996 ghetto fabulous
1997 dot-commer
1998 text message
1999 google
2000 bling bling
2001 9/11
2002 axis of evil
2003 sex up
2004 chav
______________________________________________________________

(Source:http://www.askoxford.com/pressroom/archive/larpers/?
view=uk,accessed October 21, 2004).

Enjoy browsing and have a nice day.

Dr D.C.Misra
October 21, 2004
______________________________________________________________________
*Dent, Susie (2004): Larpers and Shroomers: The Language Report,
Oxford, Oxford University Press(Published October 19),174 pp

Note: See also Between chav and lip,Hindustan Times,New Delhi,
October 21,2004,Thursday,p-24.

(Source: http://in.groups.yahoo.com/group/cyberquiz/message/87)