Aren’t words wonderful? Language is a brilliant thing and we have words for almost everything. The world is constantly changing and language evolves with it.
Every year that passes new words appear as part of our standard vocabulary to account for the changes in society and the great leaps and bounds of technology. We have seen some incredible bits of tech appearing over the decades and the words appearing to explain them. Some of those words even appear before the tech becomes mainstream.
You might be surprised to see when words first appeared in common usage or were first recorded as being used. We’ve been combing throughMerriam-Webster’s archivesto pick out the best and most interesting words in tech.
AAA Battery (1960)
Triple-A batteries are now fairly commonplace around the world. They’re used in everything from kid’s toys to remote controls. There are approximately three billion batteries sold in the United States each year.
Did you know though, that they’ve been around since the 1950s? Use quickly became more mainstream as they were used in popular cameras of the time and 1960 is the date of first recorded common use of this term.
Computer science (1961)
It is thought that the first computer was invented in around 1936 and the technology quickly came on during the war years as the allies employed early computers to decipher Nazi Germany’s enigma communications.
As the years passed, computer technology started becoming more mainstream to the point that “computer science” became a recognised term in the year 1961.
Bioweapon (1962)
Biological warfare is thought to have been around for many years, with the first use dating back to the 6th century BC. In more recent years, especially following the gassings in the Great War, research into bioweaponry advanced greatly. Several countries looked to weaponise germs, bacteria and viruses in order to kill fellow human beings.
Nasty stuff. During and after the years of World War II, a lot of research was done into bioweapons to the point that the word was more widely used in 1962. Nearer the end of that decade, the Warsaw Pact introduced proposals to ban biological weapons and their production entirely.
Antilock (1963)
From mass murder to safety. Improvements in car technology saw more widespread development and use of antilock braking systems in the automobile industry in 1963.
This new anti-skid technology prevents wheels from locking up during heavy braking and thus reduces the risk to occupants and people near the vehicle too. A brilliant system that’s still used today.
Mitochondrial DNA (1964)
Scientific research poking into the make-up of cells in living organisms discovered the existence of Mitochondrial DNA around this time. Mitochondrial DNA is seen as structures of cells and how they convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use.
Other types of DNA would be discovered and profile in the years that followed, but this was the first year Mitochondrial DNA was seen as a common term.
Pixel (1965)
Television and computer technology was improving by this time, but it was actually space probe video and imagery that first spawned the use of the word pixel in 1965.
Footage captured of Mars and the Moon, was being analysed that year and Frederic C. Billingsley of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory described elements of those images referencing the pixels within it.
Idiot light (1966)
By the 1960s, cars were getting more intelligent and included more technology to help them run. Simple things like dashboard warnings lights were designed to help keep cars running happily and let motorists know when there were problems.
The term “idiot light” was coined this year to reference the oil warning light that would come on when a car wasn’t properly maintained.
Videoconferencing (1967)
Skype calls, Facetime and video calling is fairly commonplace in modern times, but did you know the first time the term “videoconferencing” was first used as a term was in 1967?
Experiments with video communication technology was actually happening as early as the 1920s. Interesting later uses included two-way radio and video links from manned space flights by NASA.
In the late 1960s, experiments were already being carried out with multi-user videoconferencing technology which would carry on in following years.
Self-destruct (1968)
In the late 1960s, the television series Mission Impossible was a smash hit. Top-secret messages were famously set to self-destruct to prevent them falling into the wrong hands.
Other technology was also being developed in the real world to self-destruct for safety reasons. Space rockets, for example, were built with the ability to self-destruct if anything went wrong and human life was threatened as the result of a bad launch.
Maglev (1969)
High-speed train technology was being considered and tested in these years. In 1968 American researchers considered using magnetically levitated transportation and worked on the concept for MagLev vehicles.
This technology essentially uses two sets of magnets to allow a train to float above the tracks. Without friction of rails, trains would, therefore, be able to move at a lot faster speeds.
