odd words
In the course of ordering books for the library, I ran across a review of Dewdroppers, Waldos, and Slackers: A Decade-by-Decade Guide to the Vanishing Vocabulary of the 20th Century by Rosemarie Ostler (Oxford, 2004). The end of the review addresses the three key words in the title; I found the framing of the words amusing:
"And for those who are wondering, a "dewdropper" (from the 1920s) is a jobless youth who sleeps all day, a "waldo" (the 1980s) is a wimp (after the Where's Waldo books), and a "slacker" (1990s) is a dewdropper with a college education."
- E. L. Battistella, Southern Oregon University (Choice, April 2004)
"And for those who are wondering, a "dewdropper" (from the 1920s) is a jobless youth who sleeps all day, a "waldo" (the 1980s) is a wimp (after the Where's Waldo books), and a "slacker" (1990s) is a dewdropper with a college education."
- E. L. Battistella, Southern Oregon University (Choice, April 2004)