Essay:New Liberal Terms

Rate of Generation of Liberal Terms

The rate of generation of liberal terms is increasing, but not with the enduring value of the conservative terms and not with their geometric rate of increase. A remarkably high percentage of new liberal terms originated in the 1960s, suggesting that new liberal terms arise in a sporadic manner heavily influenced by culture:

Century	# New Liberal Terms
1600s	4
1700s	2
1800s	11
1900s	35 (10 in the 1960s)
2000s	6

Terms Difficult to Classify

These new terms are difficult to classify:

Term	Origin date	Comments
affirmative action	1961	first used in JFK's Executive Order 10925 in 1961 and subsequently promoted by LBJ.
Americanism	1781	Originally, a phrase unique to American English, later, loyalty to America and its principles
bipartisan	1909	emphasized by liberals when they are in the minority in power, but ignored by liberals when they are the majority in power
colonist	1701	settlers of a new country
compartmentalize	1925	compartmentalizing the Bible away from knowledge and education leads to ignorance and despair
contrarian	1657	someone who delights in taking a position contrary to others
eclectic	1683	taking the best from among different styles or ideas; compare best of the public
evangelism	1620-30	"isms" are usually pejorative, though this acquired a positive meaning over time, and perhaps from the outset
genetics	1905	perhaps this should be on the conservative list?
identity politics	1988	exploiting racial, ethnic, gender alliances for political gain
inane	1662	refers to comments, often made by liberals, that are utterly devoid of substance
junk legislation	1980s	used initially by liberals to complain about the lack of meaningful legislation
missionary	1635-1645	conservative?
multitasking	1966	performing multiple tasks all at once
polar coordinates	1694	Newton may have used it earlier
republican	1685
reverse engineer	1973	to deconstruct a product (or software) in order to understand how it works, often with the purpose of copying it
scrooge	1843	the main character in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol; the story is based on materialism and is often used as a substitute for the Biblical account, but charity is a conservative value
smoke and mirrors	1982	describes the use of deceit, particularly in politics; probably a conservative term, but will await more etymology about it
soapbox	1907	now used pejoratively, but probably not initially when it was a way for the public to participate
states' rights	1790	liberals often invoke this too; Democrats were its biggest champions in the 1800s (in connection with slavery), and even today on issues like legalizing drugs and same-sex marriage
technocrat	1932	technical expert
telecommute	1974	a combination of a Greek root ("tele", which means "far off") and a Latin root ("commutare", which means "to exchange")
tomfoolery	1812	playful or foolish behavior
traditionalism	1856	"beliefs of those opposed to modernism, liberalism, or radicalism"
twilight zone	1949	the realm of imagination that seems impossible but is difficult to disprove, and which challenges ordinary views of reality; also the terminator between night and day on a planetary body
Whip	late 1800s	An elected position in each political party for the legislator responsible for gathering and confirming support for the party position on particular bills. This term is derived from "whipper-in," which in fox-hunting refers to the man who prevents hunting dogs from straying amid a chase.
wiki	1995	a website (or website software) that facilitates contributions and corrections by the public
working class	1789	those who work regular, 40-hour weeks in manual labor, such as factory jobs