Jane E. Wohl writes: "I have noticed among my students a growing use of the word 'relatable,' as in 'I like Sarah Palin. She's relatable' (meaning, 'I can relate to her'). Do you know the origins of this usage? It turns the verb 'to relate to' into a very odd adjective."

Applying the word relatable to someone or something you can relate to is a modern peculiarity, but it's not wholly without precedent. The usage draws on a meaning of relate to ("to understand, to empathize with, to feel a connection with") that is itself rather new, recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary only since 1947 — first showing up in the literature of social work and childhood education.

When this touchy-feely use of relate to took off in the '60s, the adjective form relatable also made its appearance. (Before that, relatable more predictably meant "able to be related": a relatable story is one that can be told.) A 1965 article in the education journal Theory Into Practice showcased the new meaning when it detailed research findings that "boys saw teachers as more directive, while girls saw them as more 'relatable.' "

From educational circles relatability eventually spread to television programming, where the concept flourished. In 1981, the game-show host Bob Eubanks told The Washington Post that "The Newlywed Game" featured "relatable humor, the kind that takes place in every home." The following year, The New York Times quoted a press release for the syndicated series "Couples": "The real difficulties, conflicts and problems of married, dating, living-together and divorced couples rival any type of fictional format for personal and relatable drama."