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Random House Webster's College Dictionary


This dictionary has staked its reputation on its ability to capture new words faster than any other dictionary.”

The dictionary is able to do this because of the Random House Living Dictionary Database(TM) that allows daily on-line updating and editing.

It is a fascinating exercise to browse through these new words. It is almost a shorthand for what was going on during each decade. This column can’t list all of these words, but a selected few follow:

New Words of the 1940s

  • A-bomb
  • ack-ack
  • bacitracin
  • bobby-soxer
  • Dixiecrat
  • gobbledygook
  • jet plane
  • nerve gas
  • TV
  • wall-to-wall
  • xerography
  • yackety-yack


New Words of the 1950s

  • acrylic fiber
  • action painting
  • aerospace
  • Bermuda shorts
  • Black Muslim
  • cash flow
  • circadian
  • cutting edge
  • cosmonaut
  • country-and-western
  • desegregate
  • do-it-yourself
  • doublespeak
  • dreadlocks
  • exurbia
  • falafel
  • far-out
  • Kremlinology
  • kvetch
  • Maoism
  • McCarthyism
  • modem
  • transsexual
  • uncool
  • videocassette
  • worry beads


New Words of the 1960s

  • area code
  • ASCII
  • acidhead
  • aerobics
  • antidepressant
  • biohazard
  • born-again
  • chill factor
  • cryonics
  • dashiki
  • endangered species
  • GIGO
  • love-in
  • no-win
  • skyjack
  • workaholic


New Words of the 1970s

  • airhead
  • bean counter
  • bungee jumping
  • child abuse
  • deprogram
  • disk drive
  • fast-forward
  • face time
  • high-tech
  • Joe Sixpack
  • out-of-body
  • nouvelle cuisine
  • pig-out
  • punk rock
  • yellow rain


New Words of the 1980s

  • AIDS
  • air kiss
  • attention deficit disorder (ADD)
  • CD-ROM
  • channel surf
  • couch potato
  • cyberspace
  • golden parachute
  • karaoke
  • mommy track
  • seasonal affective disorder(SAD)
  • WYSIWYG
  • yuppie


New Words of the 1990s

  • ASAP
  • body piercing
  • digerati
  • eating disorder
  • Generation X
  • granny dumping
  • phone tag
  • yada-yada-yada


And the words just keep coming.

You can read more of these words and the dictionary reference sections at http://reference.nbci.com

Random House also hosts the ”Word of the Day”, a USA Today Hot Site listing.

Random House Webster’s College Dictionary 2000
edited by Wendalyn Nichols
Random House Reference & Information Publishing
ISBN 0-375-42560-8

The copyright of the article Random House Webster's College Dictionary in Word Play is owned by Sandra Linville. Permission to republish Random House Webster's College Dictionary in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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