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Teenager to Teen

Posted by Clincher1 on May 22, 2003

In Reply to: Teenager to Teen posted by R. Berg on May 21, 2003

: : Does anyone know when the word "teenager" became simply "teen"? I still use the former, which indicates that I'm not the latter! I know the word "teenager" itself was coined in the 1920's by a sociologist.

: : I first noticed the transition about two years ago when I heard a radio commercial in which an actor putting on an "old guy" voice used the phrase "when I was a teen". No old guy I've yet met would say that!

: : Thanks...

: They might know the answer to that at askoxford.com (I surely don't).

I would fairly tentatively suggest that in US the word "teen" has always been used whereas in UK "teenager" has been and still is the consistent usage

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