Words are a mirror of their times. By looking at the areas in which the vocabulary of a language is expanding fastest in a given period, we can form a fairly accurate impression of the chief preoccupations of society at that time and the points at which the boundaries of human endeavour are being advanced.
—John Ayto, British lexicographer, 20th Century Words, 1999

Posted on September 2, 1998 at 6:09 AM

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