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  • Words in the News
  • Beyond the Dictionary: stoicism and contempt
  • Happy 60th Birthday
  • New Word Watch
  • Word Profile: peloton
  • Notable and Quotable
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  • Just Foolin' Around

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August/September 2005

Happy 60th Birthday

The events of August 1945 brought World War II to an end, but 1945 also marked the birth of words like A-bomb, frogman, and sonar. We salute the occasion with this list of more than two dozen wartime terms that date to 1945.

A-bomb
airdrop
airlift
atomic reactor
blip
cold war
crime against humanity
Dear John
debrief
declassify
demob
ejection seat
film badge
firestorm
frogman
gas chamber
general of the army
guided missile
kamikaze
Medal of Freedom
peacekeeping
Pentagon
redeploy
sea duty
shoulder patch
sonar
stateside
temporary duty

And for a complete list of all words dating to 1945, go to the Collegiate Dictionary, click on Advanced Search and type 1945 in the Date field.


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