Recency illusion: today's example

[Wilson Gray]

On Sat, Aug 27, 2011 at 3:10 PM, Jesse Sheidlower <jester at panix.com> wrote:
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> Sender: Â  Â  Â  American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: Â  Â  Â  Jesse Sheidlower <jester at PANIX.COM>
> Subject: Â  Â  Â Recency illusion: today's example
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>
> I don't know how old something can be before we start considering it an
> example of the Recency Illusion, but I noticed that in the Lingua Franca
> blog at the CHE (contributors to which include Geoff Pullum and Allan
> Metcalf), Lucy Ferriss writes about the "neologism" _relatable_ 'that
> can be related to'. She mentions its newness ("I first noticed it about
> three years ago"; "this neologism"; etc.), and in general doesn't like
> it.
>
> It is, however, in OED, first attested in 1965 (I haven't tried to
> antedate it further). Is 46 years still new enough that its recency is
> not illusory? I'm not sure. I do think, though, that she could have
> checked OED or asked a linguist before blogging about some new word she
> happens to dislike.
>
> http://chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/2011/08/26/im-relatable-youre-relatable/
>
> Jesse Sheidlower
> OED
>
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"What was old is new, again," to coin a phrade.:-)

--
-Wilson
-----
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint
to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-Mark Twain

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