Curious about which words were first recorded in English the year you were born? There’s a tool that can help you find out. The Merriam-Webster Time Traveler records which words were first used in print all the way until before the 12th century. Explore the webpage to see which words came into print the year you were born – and the findings might surprise you. Some words might evoke nostalgia or remind you of different zeitgeist eras, others might make you laugh. Here’s a shortened selection of words that were first recorded in English from 1960 through 2022. Click here to view the full Time Traveler tool. 1960 Acid reflux Bossa nova Fast-food Poo Theme park 1961 Black Friday Computer science Conspiracy theorist Fettucine Alfredo Gaslighting 1962 Belgian waffle Coffee table Miniskirt Red-flag Salsa 1963 Baby boomer Deadass Neuroscience Sexism Yay 1964 Colorism Gentrification Homophobia Pantsuit Quinceañera 1965 Biohazard Domino theory Maltipoo Stagflation Xerox 1966 Art deco Gochujang Noise pollution Red Guard Yuck 1967 Dirtbag Ego trip Paramedic Rip off Slo-mo 1968 Butt naked Fanfic Jazz-rock Reggae Ziplock 1969 Afrobeat Bollywood DUI Point guard String bikini 1970 Agent Orange Bad hair day Control freak Love handles Skate park 1971 Camerawoman Dashcam Open marriage Username Wild card 1972 Beer pong Cash cow Floppy disk Latina Playlist 1973 Fact-check Hot tub Sea monkey Oobleck Pro-choice 1974 CT scan Life support Transgender Touch screen Wimp out 1975 Brainiac Fast fashion Greenhouse gas Playdate Smashburger 1976 Ableism Digital camera Meme Pooper-scooper Wannabe 1977 Buzz cut Gamer Karaoke Shopaholic Strip mall 1978 BFF Eye candy Improv Stockholm syndrome Pad thai 1979 Breakout session Email Hip-hop Lip-lock Pepper spray 1980 Air guitar Baby bump Chill out Fugly One-trick pony 1981 App Boom box Elbow bump Party monster Warm fuzzies 1982 Baby fever Gaydar Impostor syndrome Tiramisu Valley girl 1983 Bae Cell phone Green screen Screenshot Zip tie 1984 Down bad Geeked Laptop Netizen Sriracha 1985 Air fryer Anime Boy band Cool beans Intifada 1986 Chat room Cringey Glasnost Internet Jump scare 1987 Down Generation X GIF Paintball Virtual reality 1988 Emo F-bomb Mad cow disease Mosh pit Stress ball 1989 Bubble butt Caffeinate Cybersecurity Intersectionality Juneteenth National Independence Day 1990 Hand gel LARP McMansion Shout-out Twentysomething 1991 Arnold Palmer Bestie Cybercrime Granny panties NPC 1992 Buzzkill Gen X Man cave MILF Photoshop 1993 Cosplay Fashionista Gender-fluid Generation Z Website 1994 Bootylicious Cyber warfare Friend zone Upcycle Wifebeater 1995 Bridezilla Jorts Mom jeans Noob Slacktivism 1996 Face-palm GOAT Live streaming Phishing Smartphone 1997 Auto-tune Bokey Emoji Friends with benefits Judgy 1998 Amirite Cyberbullying Dark web Neurodiversity Social networking 1999 Blogger Carbon footprint Clickbait Incel K-pop 2000 FaceTime Faux-hawk Geocaching Google (verb) Speed dating 2001 Anti-vaxxer Bromance Forever chemical Captcha Twerking 2002 Beast mode Nip slip Selfie TL;DR Vlog 2003 Binge-watch Dad bod Flash mob Net neutrality Social distancing 2004 Chonky FOMO Paywall Podcast Social media 2005 Butt-dial Glamping Rage quit Truther Upvote 2006 Bucket list Bussin’ Smishing Totes YouTuber 2007 DM Epic fail Friendsgiving Retweet Yeet 2008 Adorbs Bitcoin Mansplain Me Too Unfollow 2009 Alt-right Body-shame Cryptocurrency Jegging Vaccine passport 2010 5G Arab Spring Galentine’s Day Instagram 2011 ASMR Blockchain Thirst trap Wokeness 2012 Escape room Ghost gun Generative AI Hot take 2013 Adulting Bingeable Finsta Virtue signaling 2014 Black Lives Matter Manspreading On fleek Zoom 2015 Blackfishing Ghost kitchen 2016 Cancel culture Girlboss 2017 GOATED NFT Zoomer 2018 Deepfake 2019 Large language model Meme stock 2020 COVID-19 Doomscroll Maskne Physically distance 2021 Delta variant Omicron variant Rizz 2022 Spongy moth Quit quitter
5 words you might not know were first used the year you were born and beyond
