The year I was born was the year that “fist bump” was first used in print.
Other year highlights include “boom box,” “autocorrect,” “sleezebag,” and “buffalo wing.”
Is this information I need to know? Probably not. Is it information that’s fun to know? Absolutely.
Merriam-Webster’s Time Traveller feature can help you find out the same information about your birth year, or any year you’re interested in.
To use it, just go to Merriam-Webster’s dedicated Time Traveller page and select a year from the drop-down menu. When you do, you’ll be given a list of words that were presumably used for the first time in print that year.
If you come across one you don’t understand, you can click on it for a brief definition.
The years available range from 2017 to before the 12th century, so you can do some pretty significant exploring as well.
It can be a fun way to get a glimpse at what was going on in the world at a given time and kill a few minutes in your afternoon in the process.
[referenced url=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2019/09/these-are-the-words-smart-people-cant-spell/” thumb=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2017/02/Spelling-410×231.jpg” title=”Revealed: The Words Smart People Can’t Spell” excerpt=”Linguist and Because Internet author Gretchen McCulloch asked her Twitter followers to share the words that they can’t actually spell without relying on spellcheck. The answers she got will comfort and edify you.”]
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