Merriam Webster’s online dictionary site has added a feature they call Time Traveller.

It’s a vaguely unsettling way of dating oneself, especially when you realise how young some words are, and also how so many have fallen into disuse…because you’ve certainly never heard of them!

I was born in 1954, which spawned such words as boonies, buyback, cash flow, junk mail, sleaze and wheeler-dealer. The word wonk also appeared—which means: “a person preoccupied with arcane details or procedures in a specialized field.” Considering how much I study the world of writing and publishing, I’m a wonk! My spellchecker doesn’t like it, suggesting that I replace the ‘o’ with an ‘a’! 

Anyone in need of writing prompts could use the words from their year to create a story, using every one.

What words heralded your entry into the world?