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The year I was born was the year that “fist bump” was first used in print.



Other year highlights include “boom box,” “autocorrect,” “slea zebag,” and “buffalo wing.”


Is this information I need to know? Probably not. Is it information that’s fun to know? Absolutely.

Merriam-Webster’s Time Traveler feature can help you find out the same information about your birth year, or any year you’re interested in.




To use it, just go to Merriam-Webster’s dedicated Time Traveler page and select a year from the drop-down menu. When you do, you’ll be given a list of words that were presumably used for the first time in print that year.



If you come across one you don’t understand, you can click on it for a brief definition.



The years available range from 2017 to before the 12th century, so you can do some pretty significant exploring as well.



It can be a fun way to get a glimpse at what was going on in the world at a given time and kill a few minutes in your afternoon in the process.

