Published on 12, July, 2020
I subscribe to Oxford Dictionaries' (OD) word of the day and today's word is 'herstory'.
The OD's definition is 'history viewed from a female or specifically feminist perspective'.
The OED's entry for 'herstory' has yet to be updated (it dates back to 1993) but the entry is fascinating. The entry advises that 'herstory' occurs between 0.01 and 0.10 times per million words in typical modern English usage and that the word's etymology is a punning alteration of 'history' (fancifully reinterpreted as 'his story', implying that history has in the past been viewed predominantly from the male perspective), with his- replaced by her. The OED's earliest recorded use of the word is 1970 by R. Morgan in Sisterhood is Powerful.
My library offers all members access to the OED for free.
I love neologisms. I regard language as plasticine to be used and adjusted to my needs :-)
Procrastinator said:I love neologisms.
And the OED shows the word 'neologism' dates back to ... 1772!
The word neologism?? :-) ?
brilliant. I am feeling nervous for other reasons - and reading this kind of entry kind of relaxes me :-)