people bitching about the usage of “too modern” words in fantasy or historical fiction is sometimes justified, but ultimately I think it’s a waste of time because
all words exist within a specific time frame and it’s pointless to avoid the fact that you’re writing with the language of your own time
which words are actually “newer” than other words is sometimes wildly unintuitive
according to the dates given in the Oxford English Dictionary, if you wrote a book set in 1897, you could have your characters say “fuckable,” (1889) “sexy” (1896) “uncomfy” (1868) “hellacious” (1847) “dude” (1877) “all righty” (1877) and “heck” (1887), but not “wiggly” (1932) “moronic” (1910) “uptight” (1934) “lowbrow” (1901) “fifty-fifty” (1913) “burp” (1932) “bagel” (1898) or use the word “rewrite” as a noun (1901)
Some more words where the date of their first known usage just Doesn’t Sound Right:
hangry, as in the portmanteau of ‘hungry’ and ‘angry’ (1912)
dildo (1590)
yucky (1970)
grungy (1965)
freebie (1925)
shitty (1768)
boost (1815)
boss (1856)
TGIF, as in Thank God It’s Friday (1941)
yay (1963)
Fucked up (1863) is much older than fuck you (1943) but older still is the now-obscure fucked out (1862) which means what it sounds like—exhausted from too much sex.
This is also common practice in Sweden. Dairy cows are kept indoors during the winter, then released into their pasture in spring. The kosläpp (release of the cows) is an annual event usually open to visitors. There’s even an expression derived from it.
it’s so marvelous to me that humans make an annual event of gathering around specifically to watch cows experience joy. the humans are excited that the cows are excited, to the point they make sure the human kids get front row seats, cause they know the kids will be extra excited. there is so much vicarious joy here. how remarkable a world, where we do things specifically for the pleasure of seeing other people and creatures happy.
Tori