the "new normal"

[Laurence Horn]

At 9:02 PM -0500 2/22/11, Dan Goncharoff wrote:
>There have been uses of the term "new normal" as a noun in economics
>writing in the past.

Ah, so earlier than in recovery/support group speak, then. Thanks.
(Still puzzling that there's no OED entry for this, maybe even more
so since none of the noun entries for "normal" fit this.)

LH

>
>Here is a 1918 cite:
>http://bit.ly/fIgIrn
>N.E.L.A. bulletin: Volume 5 - Page 604
>"To consider the problems before us we must divide our epoch into
>three periods, that of war, that of transition, that of the new
>normal, which undoubtedly will supersede the old."
>(despite the source, an economic article)
>
>1922:
>http://bit.ly/ePpaiY
>POLITICAL SCIENCE QUARTERLY
>THE NEW NORMAL IN FOREIGN TRADE
>September 1922
>
>1940:
>http://bit.ly/eii26f
>The Magazine of Wall Street and business analyst, Volume 67
>p367, The New "Normal" in Business and Market Trends
>
>1950:
>http://bit.ly/eVrhVi
>Burroughs clearing house
>"Economic outlook. That we can never go back to normal, but can only
>go forward to a new normal involving a state of defensive preparedness
>sufficient to assure peace is the opinion advanced by LM Giannini,
>president, Bank of America. ..."
>
>The current flurry of use is just another instance of everything old
>being new again...
>
>DanG
>
>On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 8:04 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
>>
>>  ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>-----------------------
>>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>>  Subject:      Re: the "new normal"
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>  At 2:29 PM -0500 2/21/11, Ben Zimmer wrote:
>>  >The earliest example I can find in the medical literature is from
>>  >1978, referring to patients who have suffered a heart attack.
>>
>>  Great.  Is there any indication that it had been transferred to ill
>>  economic as opposed to physical health before the recession of the
>>  last few years?  In any case, I think it's opaque (or translucent)
>>  enough to earn an explicit place in dictionaries.
>>
>>  >---
>>  >http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/752666
>>  >"Cutting Back After a Heart Attack: An Overview." _Health Education
>>  >Monographs_ 02/1978; 6(3):295-311.
>>  >p. 299: "The stages of cutting back are 'immobilization,'
>>  >'resumption,' and 'new normal.'"
>>  >p. 304: "New Normal: Adjusting to a New Identity" (section heading)
>>  >p. 306: "Negative standards of comparison set a worse peril against
>>  >the new normal. People who feel they came close to death are glad to
>>  >be alive at all; and comfort can be derived from comparing one's own
>>  >lot with that of another whose fate is even more unfavorable."
>>  >---
>>  >
>>  >The article also uses the less elliptical "new normal stage" and "new
>>  >normal state."
>>  >
>>  >--bgz
>>  >
>>  >On Mon, Feb 21, 2011 at 11:53 AM, Laurence Horn wrote:
>>  >>
>>  >>  I was wondering if the first use of this compound or phrase can be
>>  >>  determined.  There's no entry for "new normal" in the OED, and while
>>  >>  it's partly transparent, the specific uses it currently has,
>>  >>  presupposing a recalibration of the standard setting, would seem to
>>  >>  demand an entry.  I first encountered it in the early years of the
>>  >>  new century in connection with the community of those undergoing
>>  >>  cancer treatment, and recognizing the permanent effects of both the
>>  >>  disease and the treatment (particularly chemotherapy) on their
>>  >>  default "settings", but since then I've seen quite a lot in
>>  >>  connection with the economy and with families who recognize that in
>>  >>  the face of external pressures, they have to adjust their
>>  >>  baselines--usually (or always?) in a less favorable direction.  Most
>>  >>  of the first few pages of the many many g-hits for "the new normal"
>>  >>  involve changes resulting from the recession, but am I right in
>>  >>  thinking that the use in the cancer recovery community (or maybe more
>  > >>  generally among those adjusting to changes in their baseline
>>  >>  resulting from disease and treatment) predated this use?
>>  >>
>>  >>  (If there were an entry in the OED, it would slip in around subentry
>>  >>  5 of the noun entries for "normal".)
>>  >
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