Rip Van Winkles/Sleeping Beauties

[Baker, John]

        Perhaps "jape," thought to have become archaic in the 16th
century but revived in the 19th, would be another example, although it
is different from these in that its 19th century revival was fairly
limited, while Mark's examples are of words that achieved a prominence
they never previously held.  I prefer "late bloomer" as the name for
such words, but I suppose "Sleeping Beauty" is more colorful.  "Rip Van
Winkle" seems an unsuitable term, since that implies an extended
quiescence followed by a return to a prior state.


John Baker


-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
Of Mark Peters
Sent: Friday, February 12, 2010 11:45 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Rip Van Winkles/Sleeping Beauties

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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