Rip Van Winkles/Sleeping Beauties

[Mark Peters]

Hey all,

I'm doing a column on terms like unfriend--which, as Ben discussed here (http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/2145/)--took a long linguistic nap before emerging as a common word the last couple of years.

I'm collecting examples of other sleeping beauties: words recorded long ago that suddenly jump into prominence, becoming prime examples of the recency illusion. Besides unfriend, I have not, truthiness, and doh. Any other examples would be hugely appreciated.

Also, if anyone has an opinion on whether Rip Van Winkles or Sleeping Beautiesis a better term for this kind of word, I'd love to hear the reasons.

Thanks, word-herders!

Mark
http://wordlust.blogspot.com/

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