Word Time Traveling

Hillel just turned me on to a VERY cool site – Merriam Webster’s Time Traveler.

When was a word first used in print? You may be surprised! Enter a date below to see the words first recorded on that year.

Like a TARDIS only for words. Neato keen, eh?

Just fer instance, the year I was born was the first time acetaminophen appeared. Huh. According to the American Chemical Society:

It was first prepared by H. N. Morse in 1878. Although many studies on its use as an analgesic were performed, it wasn’t until 1950 that it was marketed under the name Triagesic. Today, its most common trade names are Tylenol ...

But acetaminophen didn’t appear in print until ’58. OK but, seeing as it was a med ingredient for over 70 years, why not?

This hit home this morning because I’m just about outta Tylenol. At peak pain, my first month home from MGH, I was downing 4,000 mg a day.

Since spine surgery, I’ve burned through a bottle and a half of this shit. Yeah, I had a ‘script for oxycodone – a supposedly super duper but highly addictive, opioid pain reliever but, guess what? It didn’t do a damn thing for me. What the actual fuck? I thought, at first, “oxycodone –cool. I’ll pop a couple of those babies and glide through this recovery.” Nope. What's the deal? Am I impervious to addictive shit? (and that's NOT to say that I'm looking to be addicted, fer fuck's sake. I was just looking forward to a trippy, easier convalescence)

At least now, if I take acetaminophen at all, I’m down to one or two G’s worth per day, max. Also too, when the pain hits it’s WAY less extreme – even post walkies, PT exercise and painting. I’m two and a half months post slice-age and finally beginning to feel and move ALMOST like normal again.

Between January’s bean surgery and August’s spine action, it seems all I’ve done this year is work on regaining strength and flexibility – ya know, building up more of that good vibrancy shit. That and I'm dodging possible Plague45 spreaders.

Back to words though – the year Jen was born, 1970 (yeah, she’s just a kid), was the first time the phrase “bad hair day” was seen in print. Given the usual state of my mop, that shoulda come out in '58.

Oni was born in 1967 which is when ibuprofen hit the dictionary. Also, psychedelia which is pretty groovy and shit. 

Ten was born in 1955. The term acid precipitation came into being that year. The fuck’s that shit? Are we talking about showers of Windowpane? Floods of Microdot? Mellow Yellow downpours? 

Nope. Acid precipitation is precipitation (such as rain or snow) having increased acidity caused by environmental factors (such as atmospheric pollutants).

In other news, our boy Umlaut brought a friend over for breakfast the other morning. Jen refers to our new visitor as Girlfriend and she's a stone cutie-pie. It's become clear to us over the years, that Umlaut is def het so this gorgeous babe is, we presume, his new squeeze.

What word came into being the year you were born?