Aids-related virus

(War and Weaponry) see triple A

(Science and Technology) see anti-lock

abbreviation (Science and Technology) Short for artificial intelligence, the use of computers and associated technology to model and simulate intelligent human behaviour. Etymology: The initial letters of Artificial Intelligence. History and Usage: Attempts to 'teach' computers how to carry out tasks (such as translation between languages) which would normally require a human intelligence date back almost as far as computer technology itself, and have been referred to under the general-purpose heading of artificial intelligence since the fifties. This was being abbreviated to AI in technical literature by the seventies, and by the eighties the abbreviation had entered the general vocabulary, as computing technology became central to nearly all areas of human activity. The abbreviation is often used attributively, with a following noun, as in AI technology etc. Sales for AI technology will top ø719 million this year. Business Week 1 July 1985, p. 78 Military research...has been both the driving force and...paymaster of AI development. CU Amiga Apr. 1990, p. 89

(Health and Fitness) see Aids

(Health and Fitness) see HIV

(Lifestyle and Leisure) see mountain bike

abbreviation (Business World) Short for automated teller machine, a machine which carries out banking transactions automatically. (Usually known colloquially in the UK as a cashpoint or cash dispenser, although it may be capable of carrying out transactions other than cash dispensing.) Etymology: The initial letters of automated (or automatic ) teller machine. History and Usage: The full term automated teller machine was first used in the mid seventies, when the machines were put into mass operation in US banks; by 1976 this had been abbreviated to ATM, which has remained the standard term for the increasingly versatile machines in the US as well as Australia and other English-speaking countries. In the UK, they were available from the middle of the seventies but not used by the mass of the British public until the mid eighties. Consequently, the name ATM has tended to be used mostly in official circles, while cash dispenser, cash machine, and cashpoint have been the more popular names. Even though the machines are now capable of registering deposits, providing statements, etc., it seems unlikely that ATM will become the regular term in the UK as well. Bill payments and loan repayments can be made through ATMs...80 per cent of all ATM transactions were withdrawals, 10 per cent were inquiries and 10 per cent were deposits. Sunday Mail Magazine (Brisbane) 12 Oct. 1986, p. 16 Need cash at midnight? Hit the ATM. Life Fall 1989, p. 49 See also cash dispenser

abbreviation (Health and Fitness) Short for azidothymidine, a drug used in the treatment of Aids to stop the virus HIV from replicating itself within the patient's body; now officially known as Zidovudine. Etymology: The first two letters of azido- combined with the initial letter of thymidine. History and Usage: Azidothymidine was developed in the US during the mid seventies, before Aids became a problem, but was always intended as a retrovirus inhibitor. When HIV was identified as the probable cause of Aids in the mid eighties, its applicability to this virus was tested and it was found that it could prolong the life of Aids patients by preventing the virus from copying itself and so reducing the patients' susceptibility to infections. This discovery led to its being promoted in the press as a 'wonder drug' and even as a cure for Aids, although its testers continued to emphasize the fact that it was only capable of slowing down the development of the disease. Once the drug was in use for treating Aids, the name azidothymidine was usually abbreviated to AZT. This is still the name by which the drug is known colloquially, despite the fact that its official name has been changed to Zidovudine. The company has been sharply criticized for the cost of AZT, and recently cut the price by 20 per cent. An adult with AIDS now pays about $6,500 a year for the drug. New York Times 26 Oct. 1989, section A, p. 22

In the slang of drug users, the hallucinogenic designer drug methylenedioxymethamphetamine or MDMA, also known as Ecstasy. Etymology: The name is probably a type of backslang, reversing the abbreviated chemical name MDMA, dropping the first m, and pronouncing the resulting 'word'; it may be influenced by the associations of the first Adam with paradise. A similar designer drug is known in drugs slang as Eve. History and Usage: For history, see Ecstasy. On the street, its name is 'ecstasy' or 'Adam', which should tell how people on the street feel about it. Los Angeles Times 29 Mar. 1985, section 5, p. 8 One close relative of MDMA, known as Eve--MDMA is sometimes called Adam--has already been shown to be less toxic to rats than MDMA. Because of a 'designer-drug' law passed in 1986, Eve is banned too. Economist 19 Mar. 1988, p. 94

acronym Also written AIDS (Health and Fitness) Short for acquired immune deficiency syndrome, a complex condition which is thought to be caused by a virus called HIV and which destroys a person's ability to fight infections. Etymology: An acronym, formed on the initial letters of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. History and Usage: The condition was first noticed by doctors at the very end of the seventies and was described under the name acquired immune deficiency state in 1980, although later research has shown that a person died from Aids as long ago as 1959 and that the virus which causes it may have existed in Africa for a hundred years or more. Colloquially the condition was also sometimes referred to as GRID (gay-related immune disease) in the US before the name Aids became established. The US Center for Disease Control first used the name acquired immune deficiency syndrome and the acronym Aids in September 1982, and by 1984 the disease was already reaching epidemic proportions in the US and coming to be known as the scourge of the eighties. At first Aids was identified as principally affecting two groups: first, drug users who shared needles, and second, male homosexuals, giving rise to the unkind name gay plague, which was widely bandied about in newspapers during the mid eighties. Once the virus which causes the immune breakdown which can lead to Aids was identified and it became clear that this was transmitted in body fluids, sexual promiscuity in general was blamed for its rapid spread. These discoveries prompted a concerted and ill-received government advertising campaign in the UK which aimed to make the general public aware of the risks and how to avoid them; this resulted, amongst other things, in the revival of the word condom in everyday English. The acronym soon came to be written by some in the form Aids (rather than AIDS) and thought of as a proper noun; it was also very quickly used attributively, especially in Aids virus (a colloquial name for HIV) and the adjective Aids-related. By 1984 doctors had established that infection with the virus could precede the onset of any symptoms by some months or years, and identified three distinct phases of the syndrome: lymphadenopathy syndrome developed first, followed by Aids-related complex (ARC), a phase in which preliminary symptoms of fever, weight loss, and malaise become apparent; the later phase, always ultimately fatal, in which the body's natural defences against infection are broken down and tumours may develop, came to be known as full-blown Aids. Colloquially, the phases before the onset of full-blown Aids are sometimes called pre-Aids. The language of Aids (Aidspeak) became both complex and emotive as the eighties progressed, with the word Aids itself being used imprecisely in many popular sources to mean no more than infection with HIV--a usage which, in the eyes of those most closely concerned with Aids, could only be expected to add to the stigmatization and even victimization of already isolated social groups. The Center for Disease Control published a carefully defined spectrum of stages, in an attempt to make the position clear: HIV antibody seronegativity (i.e. the absence of antibodies against HIV in the blood), HIV antibody seropositivity (see antibody-positive), HIV asymptomaticity, lymphadenopathy syndrome, Aids-related complex, and full-blown Aids. In order to lessen the emotive connotations of some tabloid language about Aids, pressure groups tried to discourage the use of Aids victim and replace it with person with Aids (see PWA). The terminology had become so complex and tricky that those who could find their way about it and understood the issues came to be known as Aids-literate. At the time of writing no cure has been found for Aids. In just one year the list of people at risk from AIDS has lengthened from male homosexuals, drug-abusers and Haitians, to include the entire population [of the USA]. New Scientist 3 Feb. 1983, p. 289 St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis...will look at potential drug treatments in animals for an AIDS-related form of pneumonia, pneumocystis carinii. New York Times 1 May 1983, section 1, p. 26 Buddies' project is not to examine the construction of gay identity but to take apart the mythology of AIDS as a 'gay plague'. Film Review Annual 1986, p. 160 Of 34 mothers who gave birth to children with Aids at his hospital, only four had any symptoms of the disease or Aids-related complex, a milder form. Daily Telegraph 3 Feb. 1986, p. 5 Like many well-educated professionals who are sexually active, the man had become an AIDS encyclopedia without changing his habits. Atlantic Feb. 1987, p. 45 See also Slim

(Health and Fitness) see HIV

(People and Society) see -line

A trade mark for daminozide, a growth-regulating chemical used as a spray on fruit trees to enable the whole crop to be harvested at once. History and Usage: Alar has been manufactured under this brand name since the mid sixties and is used by commercial growers to regulate the growth of fruit (especially apples), so larger, unblemished fruit which remains on the tree longer can be produced. The chemical does not remain on the surface of the fruit, but penetrates the flesh, so that it cannot be washed off or removed by peeling. The results of research published in the second half of the eighties showed that, when the apples were subsequently processed (in order to make apple juice, for instance), Alar could be converted into unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (or UDMH), a potent carcinogen. This discovery brought Alar unwelcome publicity during the late eighties: mothers anxious to protect their children from harmful chemicals in foods (among them some famous mothers such as film star Meryl Streep in the US and comedian Pamela Stephenson in the UK) led a campaign to have its use discontinued. Alar was voluntarily withdrawn by its manufacturers, Uniroyal, from use on food crops in the US and Australia in 1989; in the UK the Advisory Committee on Pesticides declared it safe. Some products which have been publicised as Alar-free by retailers and manufacturers were still found to contain Alar. She Oct. 1989, p. 18 Most people are far more frightened of the threat of cancer than of the flulike symptoms that they associate with food poisoning. Fanning their anxieties are frequent alerts: about dioxin in milk, aldicarb in potatoes, Alar in apples. New York Times 7 May 1990, section D, p. 11

noun (Health and Fitness) A complementary therapy which aims to correct bad posture and teach people a balanced use of their bodies as an aid to better health. Etymology: The name of F. Matthias Alexander, who invented the technique. History and Usage: The Alexander technique was developed by Alexander, an Australian actor who subsequently devoted his life to physiotherapy, at the end of the nineteenth century, and was promoted by the writer Aldous Huxley in the forties. It was not widely taken up by the general public until the seventies in the US and the early eighties in the UK, when complementary medicine and alternative approaches to health became more socially acceptable than previously. It continued to enjoy a vogue in the late eighties, since it fitted in well with the New Age approach to self-awareness. Although not claiming to cure any organic health problems, teachers of the Alexander technique maintain that it can relieve or even remove symptoms, notably back pain, as well as helping people to prevent pain and discomfort in later life. The Alexander Technique is a very careful, gentle way of increasing awareness; it was a joy to learn how to listen to myself. Out from the Core Feb. 1986, p. 5 I saw an ad...for a cheap introductory course in Alexander technique and as I had poor posture and...an aching back, I went along. Good Housekeeping May 1990, p. 17

(Politics) see -gate

noun (Politics) A formal agreement between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, signed on 15 November 1985, establishing an intergovernmental conference and providing for greater cooperation between the two countries, especially where the sovereignty and security of Northern Ireland were concerned. Etymology: Anglo- is the combining form of English, but doubles as the combining form for British and 'of the United Kingdom', since neither has a combining form of its own; to describe the agreement as Anglo-Irish therefore means not just that it was between England and Eire, but between the whole United Kingdom and Eire (and so by implication included Northern Ireland, even though it met with opposition there). History and Usage: The Anglo-Irish agreement was the subject of some considerable speculation in the press long before it was actually signed by British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Irish Taoiseach Garret Fitzgerald at Hillsborough, Co. Down, in 1985: the earliest uses of the term date from the very beginning of the eighties. It became very frequently used in newspapers during the mid eighties, partly as a result of the intense opposition to it raised by Ulster Unionists. They particularly objected to the fact that their political representatives had not been involved in the negotiations and to the implications they saw in it for the sovereignty of Northern Ireland. Attempted Ulster talks in May 1991 sought to involve them first in a new agreement. The disagreement goes to the heart of the problem of how to introduce Dublin as a partner in the talks and what role it would have in renegotiating the replacement of the Anglo-Irish Agreement. Guardian 28 June 1990, p. 2

noun (Lifestyle and Leisure) The trade mark of a health drink containing spring water, fruit juices, and a number of other ingredients, which is promoted as an aid to proper alkaline balance and good digestion. Etymology: Latin aqua 'water' and libra 'balance': literally 'water balance' (compare balance). History and Usage: Aqua Libra was launched under this name in 1987, at a time when there was a fashion for non-alcoholic drinks, and many smart executives favoured mineral water (see designer). Aqua Libra...is completely free of alcohol and I like it because it is not as sweet as, say Perrier and orange juice. Financial Times 31 Dec. 1988, Weekend FT, p. IX The smart set in England this season is drinking Aqua Libra. The pale-gold beverage is a blend of sparkling water, passion fruit juice and apple juice, seasoned with sesame, sunflower, melon, tarragon and Siberian ginseng. Forbes 25 Dec. 1989, p. 48

noun Sometimes written aquarobics or aquaerobics (Health and Fitness) (Lifestyle and Leisure) The trade mark of a fitness programme, including a form of aerobics, in which the exercises are done in a shallow swimming pool. Etymology: Formed by substituting the Latin word aqua 'water' for the first syllable of aerobics. History and Usage: Aquarobics was developed by Georgia Kerns and Judy Mills in the US in 1980 and registered there as a trade mark. By the late eighties it had spread to the UK and was becoming a popular alternative to aerobics, being promoted especially as a form of exercise suitable for people with physical disabilities or those recovering from operations. The movable floor can be lowered from 1.5 feet to 10 feet and is used for such water exercise classes as aquarobics and aquafitness. Business First of Buffalo 9 Mar. 1987, p. 30 Many...handicapped people said how beneficial the Aquarobics Exercises had been. Keep Fit Autumn 1989, p. 7

noun and adjective Sometimes written Azari (People and Society) noun: A member of a Turkic people of the USSR and Iran, living mainly in Azerbaijan, Armenia, and northern Iran; an Azerbaijani. Also, their language. adjective: Of or belonging to this people or their language. Etymology: The Turkish form (azerí) of what was originally a Persian word for fire; the place-name Azerbaijan is a compound meaning 'fire-temple'. Azeri is apparently the preferred form among those of Azeri ethnic origin, since it preserves a distinction between the Turkic people and anyone who lives in Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani can mean either). History and Usage: Although used in ethnographical and linguistic works since at least the last century, Azeri was not a word that the average reader of English newspapers would have recognized until the late eighties. Then ethnic unrest on the border between the Armenian and Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republics was widely reported in the newspapers. Since the trouble was partly caused by the fact that large numbers of ethnic Armenians lived within the borders of the Azerbaijan SSR and Azeris in the Armenian SSR, it was necessary for journalists to make the distinction between the inhabitant of Azerbaijan (an Azerbaijani) and the Azeri. At least two civilians, one Armenian and one Azeri, attacked Armenian homes...Azeri mobs had burned 60 houses...Three Azeris were shot and killed by troops. Observer 27 Nov. 1988, p. 23

adjective (People and Society) Able-bodied, not disabled. Also (especially with a preceding adverb): having a particular range of physical abilities; differently abled, otherly abled, uniquely abled: euphemistic ways of saying 'disabled'. Etymology: Formed by removing the prefix dis- from disabled. History and Usage: The word abled arose in the US; it has been used by the disabled to refer to the able-bodied since about the beginning of the eighties, and is also now so used in the UK. The euphemistic phrases differently abled, otherly abled, and uniquely abled were coined in the mid eighties, again in the US, as part of an attempt to find a more positive official term than handicapped (the official term in the US) or disabled (the preferred term in the UK during the eighties). Another similarly euphemistic coinage intended to serve the same purpose was challenged. Differently abled has enjoyed some success in the US, but all of the forms with a preceding adverb have come in for considerable criticism. Disabled, handicapped, differently-abled, physically or mentally challenged, women with disabilities--this is more than a mere discourse in semantics and a matter of personal preference. Debra Connors in With the Power of Each Breath (1985), p. 92 In a valiant effort to find a kinder term than handicapped, the Democratic National Committee has coined differently abled. The committee itself shows signs of being differently abled in the use of English. Los Angeles Times 9 Apr. 1985, section 5, p. 1 I was aware of how truly frustrating it must be to be disabled, having to deal not only with your disability, but with abled people's utter disregard for your needs. San Francisco Chronicle 4 July 1990, Briefing section, p. 7

noun Also written ablism (People and Society) Discrimination in favour of the able-bodied; the attitude or assumption that it is only necessary to cater for able-bodied people. Etymology: Formed by adding the suffix -ism (as in ageism, racism, and sexism) to the adjective able in the sense in which it is used in able-bodied. History and Usage: This is one of a long line of -isms which became popular in the eighties to describe various forms of perceived discrimination: see also fattism and heterosexism. Ableism was a term first used by feminists in the US at the beginning of the eighties; in the UK, the concept was first referred to as able-bodism in a GLC report in 1984 and was later also called able-bodiedism. However, ableism was the form chosen by the Council of the London borough of Haringey for a press release in 1986, and it is this form which has continued to be used, despite the fact that it is thought by some to be badly formed (the suffix -ism would normally be added to a noun stem rather than an adjective). The spelling ableism is preferred to ablism, which some people might be tempted to pronounce /--/. In practice, none of the forms has been widely used, although society's awareness of disability was raised during the International Year of Disabled Persons in 1981. The adjective corresponding to this noun is ableist, but its use is almost entirely limited to US feminist writing. For an adjective which describes the same characteristics from the opposite viewpoint, see disablist. A GLC report...referred throughout to a new phenomenon called mysteriously 'able-bodism'--a reference apparently to that malevolent majority, the fully-fit. Daily Telegraph 1 Nov. 1984, p. 18 Able-ist movements of the late-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries regarded disability as problematic for society. Debra Connors in With the Power of Each Breath (1985), p. 99 I was at the national convention of the National Organization for Women. I consider myself a feminist...but I'm...embarrassed by the hysteria, the gaping maws in their reasoning and the tortuous twists of femspeak. Who else can crowd the terms 'ableism, homophobia and sexism' into one clause without heeding the shrillness of tone? San Francisco Chronicle 4 July 1990, section A, p. 19

̘. ̈n.əˈbju:s noun (Drugs) (People and Society) Illegal or excessive use of a drug; the misuse of any substance, especially for its stimulant effects. In the context of human relationships, physical (especially sexual) maltreatment of another person. Etymology: These are not so much new senses of the word as specializations of context; abuse has meant 'wrong or improper use, misapplication, perversion' since the sixteenth century, but in the second half of the twentieth century has been used so often in the two contexts mentioned above that this is becoming the dominant use. History and Usage: Abuse was first used in relation to drugs in the early sixties; by the seventies it was usual for it to be the second element in compounds such as alcohol abuse, drug abuse, and solvent abuse, and soon afterwards with a human object as the first word: see child abuse. Interestingly it is not idiomatic to form similar compounds for other types of abuse in its traditional sense: the abuse of power rather than 'power abuse', for example. This is one way in which the language continues to differentiate the traditional use from the more specialized one, although there have been some recent exceptions (a tennis player who throws his racquet about in anger or frustration can now be cautioned for racquet abuse, for example). This is a setback for the campaign against increasing heroin abuse among the young in all parts of the country. Sunday Times 9 Dec. 1984, p. 3 Just over 30 per cent of the girls questioned said they had tried solvent abuse. Daily Express 20 Aug. 1986, p. 2 Asked why she continued diagnosing abuse after three appeals from other agencies to stop because they could not cope, she replied: 'With hindsight, at the time we were trying to do our best for them. In the event, with some children, we were sadly unable to do that.' Guardian 14 July 1989, p. 2

In young people's slang: great, fantastic, terrific. Etymology: The adjectival use has arisen from the noun ace, which essentially means 'number one'. History and Usage: As any reader of war comics will know, during the First World War outstanding pilots who had succeeded in bringing down ten or more enemy planes were known as aces; shortly after this, ace started to be used in American English to mean any outstanding person or thing, and by the middle of the century was often used with another noun following (as in 'an ace sportsman'). It was a short step from this attributive use to full adjectival status. In the eighties, ace was re-adopted by young people as a general term of approval, and this time round it was always used as an adjective ('that's really ace!') or adverbially ('ace!') as a kind of exclamation. With staff, everything becomes possible. And--ace and brill--they confer instant status on the employer at the same time. A double benefit: dead good and the apotheosis of yuppiedom. Daily Telegraph 12 July 1987, p. 21 The holiday was absolutely ace--loads of sailing and mountain walking, and even a night's camping in the hills. Balance (British Diabetic Association) Aug.-Sept. 1989, p. 45

noun (Music) (Youth Culture) A style of popular music with a fast beat, a spare, mesmeric, synthesized sound, few (if any) vocals, and a distinctive gurgling bass; in the UK, a youth cult surrounding this music and associated in the public mind with smiley badges, drug-taking, and extremely large parties known as acid house parties. Sometimes abbreviated to acid (also written acieeed or aciiied, especially when used as a kind of interjection). Etymology: The word acid here is probably taken from the record Acid Trax by Phuture (in Chicago slang, acid burning is a term for stealing and this type of music relies heavily on sampling, or stealing from other tracks); a popular theory that it is a reference to the drug LSD is denied by its followers (but compare acid rock, a sixties psychedelic rock craze, which certainly was). House is an abbreviated form of Warehouse: see house. History and Usage: Acid house music originated in Chicago as an offshoot of house music in 1986; at first it was called 'washing machine', which aptly described the original sound. Imported to the UK in 1988, acid house started a youth cult during the summer of that year, and soon spawned its own set of behaviour and its own language. The craze for acid house parties, at venues kept secret until the very last moment, exercised police forces throughout the south of England, since they often involved trespass on private land and caused a public nuisance, although organizers claimed that they had been maligned in the popular press. I suppose that a lot of acid house music is guilty of...being completely cold and devoid of any human touch. Spin Oct. 1989, p. 18 Aciiied was a figment of the British imagination. Like British R&B in the Sixties, it was a creative misrecognition of a Black American pop. Melody Maker 23-30 Dec. 1989, p. 34 Acid House, whose emblem is a vapid, anonymous smile, is the simplest and gentlest of the Eighties' youth manifestations. Its dance music is rhythmic but non-aggressive (except in terms of decibels). Independent 3 Mar. 1990, p. 12 See also warehouse

Rain containing harmful acids which have formed in the atmosphere, usually when waste gases from industrial emissions combine with water. Etymology: Formed by compounding: rain with an acid content. History and Usage: The term acid rain was first used as long ago as 1859, when R. A. Smith observed in a chemical journal that the stonework of buildings crumbled away more quickly in towns where a great deal of coal was burnt for industrial purposes; this he attributed to the combination of waste gases with water in the air, making the rain acidic. In the early 1970s the term was revived as it became clear that acid rain was having a terrible effect on the forests and lakes of North America, Europe, and especially Scandinavia (killing trees and freshwater life). Acid rain started to be discussed frequently in official reports and documents on the environment; but it was not until environmental concerns became a public issue in the eighties that the term passed from technical writing of one kind and another into everyday use. With this familiarity came a better understanding of the causes of acid rain, including the contribution of exhaust fumes from private vehicles. By the end of the eighties, acid rain was a term which even schoolchildren could be expected to know and understand, and had been joined by variations on the same theme: acid cloud, a term designed to emphasize the fact that acidic gases could damage the environment even without any precipitation; acid fallout, the overall atmospheric effect of pollution; acid precipitation, the name sometimes used for snow or hail of high acidity. She has a list of favorite subjects, favorite serious subjects--nuclear proliferation, acid rain, unemployment, as well as racial bigotry and the situation of women. Alice Munro Progress of Love (1987), p. 190 Burning oil will contribute to the carbon dioxide umbrella and the acid rain deposited on Europe. Private Eye 1 Sept. 1989, p. 25

(Health and Fitness) see Aids

ˈæktɪv adjective (Science and Technology) Programmed so as to be able to monitor and adjust to different situations or to carry out several different functions; smart, intelligent°. Etymology: A simple development of sense: the software enables the device to act on the results of monitoring or on commands from its user. History and Usage: This sense of active became popular in the naming of products which make use of developments in artificial intelligence and microelectronics during the late eighties and early nineties: for example, the Active Book, the trade mark of a product designed to enable an executive to use facilities like fax, telephone, dictaphone, etc. through a single portable device; the active card, a smart card with its own keyboard and display, enabling its user to discover the remaining balance, request transactions, etc.; active optics, which makes use of computer technology to correct light for the distortion placed upon it as it passes through the atmosphere; active suspension, a suspension system for cars in which the hydraulic activators are controlled by a computer which monitors road conditions and adjusts suspension accordingly; and active system, any computerized system that adjusts itself to changes in the immediate environment, especially a hi-fi system. The only development that I would class as the 'biggy' for 1980 was the introduction of reasonably priced active systems. Popular Hi-Fi Mar. 1981, p. 15 The company is also pioneering the development of active or supersmart cards, which rivals...believe to be impractical on several counts. New Scientist 11 Feb. 1989, p. 64 One of our mottos is 'Buy an Active Book and get 20 per cent of your life back'. Daily Telegraph 30 Apr. 1990, p. 31

noun (Health and Fitness) Childbirth during which the mother is encouraged to be as active as possible, mainly by moving around freely and assuming any position which feels comfortable. Etymology: Formed by compounding: birth which is active rather than passive. History and Usage: The active birth movement was founded by childbirth counsellor Janet Balaskas in 1982 as a direct rejection of the increasingly technological approach to childbirth which prevailed in British and American hospitals at the time. Ironically, this technological approach was known as the active management of labour; to many of the women involved it felt like a denial of their right to participate in their own labour. The idea of active birth was to move away from the view that a woman in labour is a patient to be treated (and therefore passive), freeing her from the encumbrance of monitors and other medical technology whenever possible and handing over to her the opportunity to manage her own labour. The concept has been further popularized in the UK by Sheila Kitzinger. The concept of Active Birth is based on the idea that the woman in labour is an active birthgiver, not a passive patient. Sheila Kitzinger Freedom & Choice in Childbirth (1987), p. 63 New Active Birth by Janet Balaskas...After Active Birth, published in 1983, updated New Active Birth prepares a woman for complete participation in the birth of her child. Guardian 1 Aug. 1989, p. 17

noun (Politics) A member of the public who takes an active role in the community, usually by getting involved in crime prevention, good neighbour schemes, etc. Etymology: Formed by compounding: a citizen who is active in society rather than passively soaking up the benefits of community life. History and Usage: The term active citizen was first used in the name of the Active Citizen Force, a White militia in South Africa, set up in 1912 and consisting of male citizens undergoing national service. In a completely separate development, active citizen started to be used in the US from the late seventies as a more polite way of saying 'political activist' or even 'future politician'; some active citizens even organized themselves into pressure groups which were able to affect local government policies. In the UK, the term active citizen and the associated policy of active citizenship were popularized by the Conservative government of the eighties, which placed great emphasis upon them, especially after the Conservative Party conference of 1988. The focus of active citizenship as encouraged by this government was on crime prevention (including neighbourhood watch) and public order, rather than political activism. This put it on the borderline with vigilante activity, a cause of some difficulty in turning the policy into concrete action. Pervading the researches will be an effort to plumb individuals' moral convictions, their motives for joining or not joining in active citizenship. Christian Science Monitor (New England edition) 2 June 1980, p. 32 Intermediate institutions...help to produce the 'active citizen' which Ministers such as Douglas Hurd have sought to call into existence to supplement gaps in welfare provision. Daily Telegraph 3 May 1989, p. 18 'Active citizens'...brought unsafe or unethical practices by their employers to official notice. As their stories reveal, active citizenship carries considerable personal risk. Blacklisting by other employers is a frequent consequence. Guardian 27 June 1990, p. 23

noun (Health and Fitness) A complementary therapy also known as shiatsu, in which symptoms are relieved by applying pressure with the thumbs or fingers to specific pressure points on the body. Etymology: Formed by combining the first two syllables of acupuncture (acupressure is a Japanese application of the same principles as are used in Chinese acupuncture) with pressure. The word acupressure actually already existed in English for a nineteenth-century method of arresting bleeding during operations by applying pressure with a needle (Latin acu means 'with a needle'); since no needle is used in shiatsu it is clear that the present use is a separate formation of the word, deliberately referring back to acupuncture but without taking into account the original meaning of acu-. History and Usage: Acupressure has been practised in Japan as shiatsu and in China as G-Jo ('first aid') for many centuries; it was exported to the Western world during the 1960s, but at first was usually called shiatsu. During the late seventies and early eighties acupressure became the preferred term and the word became popularized, first in the US and then in the UK, as complementary medicine became more acceptable and even sought after. In the late eighties the principle was incorporated into a popular proprietary means of avoiding motion sickness in which elastic bracelets hold a hard 'button' in place, pressing on an acupressure point on each wrist. A practitioner of acupressure is called an acupressurist. Among the kinds of conditions that benefit from acupressure are migraine, stress, and tension-related problems. Natural Choice Issue 1 (1988), p. 19 After one two-hour massage that included...acupressure, I was addicted. Alice Walker Temple of My Familiar (1989), p. 292

An antiviral drug that is effective against certain types of herpes, including cytomegalovirus. Etymology: Formed by combining all but the ending of the adjective acyclic (in its chemical sense, 'containing no cycle, or ring of atoms') with the stem of viral. History and Usage: The drug was developed at the end of the seventies and became the only effective treatment for genital herpes that was available during the eighties. It was widely publicized as a breakthrough in antiviral medicine at a time when genital herpes was seen as the most intractable sexually transmitted disease affecting Western societies (before the advent of Aids). During the late eighties it was used in combination with AZT (or Zidovudine) in the management of cytomegalovirus, a herpes virus which affects some people already infected with HIV. The beauty of acyclovir is that it remains inactive in the body until it comes in contact with a herpes-induced enzyme. The enzyme then activates the drug. Maclean's 2 Nov. 1981, p. 24 Professor Griffiths said studies in the US have shown the drug Acyclovir to be effective in preventing the side effects of CMV infection. Guardian 7 July 1989, p. 3

ˈædɪtɪv noun (Environment) (Lifestyle and Leisure) A substance which is added to something during manufacture, especially a chemical added to food or drink to improve its colour, flavour, preservability, etc. (known more fully as a food additive). Etymology: Additive has meant 'something that is added' since the middle of this century; recently it has acquired this more specialized use, which partly arose from the desire to abbreviate food additive once the term was being used frequently. History and Usage: Public interest in what was being put into foods by manufacturers grew rapidly during the eighties because of the green movement, with its associated diet-consciousness and demand for 'natural' products, and also because of growing evidence of the harmful effects of certain additives (including their implication in hyperactivity and other behavioural problems in children). This interest was crystallized in the mid eighties by new EC regulations on naming and listing additives and the publication of a number of reference books giving details of all the permitted food additives as well as some of the possible effects on health of ingesting them. Possibly the most famous of these was Maurice Hanssen's E for Additives (1984); certainly after the publication of this book, additive could be used on its own (not preceded by food) without fear of misunderstanding. In response to the public backlash against the use of chemical additives, manufacturers began to make a publicity point out of foods which contained none; the phrase free from artificial additives (bearing witness to the fact that food additives from natural sources continued to be used) and the adjective additive-free began to appear frequently on food labels from the second half of the eighties. Last week Peter turned up at Broadcasting House with the first ever commercially produced non-sweetened, additive-free yoghurt. Listener 10 May 1984, p. 15 Every human and inhuman emotion magnified itself in New York; thoughts...more quickly became action within and beyond the law; some said the cause lay in the food, the additives, some said in the polluted air. Janet Frame Carpathians (1988), p. 103 See also Alar, E number, -free

noun (Business World) An advertisement which is written in the form of an editorial and purports to contain objective information about a product, although actually being limited to the advertiser's own publicity material. Etymology: Formed by replacing the first two syllables of editorial with the word advert to make a blend. History and Usage: The advertorial (both the phenomenon and the word) first appeared in the US as long ago as the sixties, but did not become a common advertising ploy in the UK until the mid eighties. Advertorials came in for some criticism when they started to appear in British newspapers since there was a feeling of dishonesty about them (as deliberately inducing the reader to read them as though they were editorials or features), but they apparently did not contravene fair advertising standards as set out in the British Code of Advertising Practice: An advertisement should always be so designed and presented that anyone who looks at it can see, without having to study it closely, that it is an advertisement. In many cases the page on which an advertorial appears is headed advertising or advertisement feature (a more official name for the advertorial), and this is meant to alert the reader to the nature of the article, although the layout of the page often does not. The word advertorial is sometimes used (as in the second example below) without an article to mean this style of advertisement-writing in general rather than an individual example of it. Yes, advertorials are a pain, just like the advertising supplement pages in Barron's, but I question whether 'anyone who bought FNN would have to junk the programming'. Barron's 24 Apr. 1989, p. 34 This will probably lead to a growth in what the industry calls 'advertorial'--a mixture of public relations and journalism, or editorial with bias. Sunday Correspondent 22 Apr. 1990, p. 27

noun (Health and Fitness) (Lifestyle and Leisure) A form of physical exercise designed to increase fitness by any maintainable activity that increases oxygen intake and heart rate. Etymology: A plural noun on the same model as mathematics or stylistics, formed on the adjective aerobic ('requiring or using free oxygen in the air'), which has itself been in use since the late nineteenth century. History and Usage: The word was coined by Major Kenneth Cooper of the US Air Force as the name for a fitness programme developed in the sixties for US astronauts. In the early eighties, when fitness became a subject of widespread public interest, aerobics became the first of a string of fitness crazes enthusiastically taken up by the media. The fashion for the aerobics class, at which aerobic exercises were done rhythmically to music as part of a dance movement called an aerobics routine, started in California, soon spread to the UK, Europe, and Australia, and even reached the Soviet Union before giving way to other exercise programmes such as Callanetics. Although a plural noun in form, aerobics may take either singular or plural agreement. Aerobics have become the latest fitness craze. Observer 18 July 1982, p. 25 The air-waves of the small, stuffy gym reverberated with the insistent drum notes as thirty pairs of track shoes beat out the rhythm of the aerobics routine. Pat Booth Palm Beach (1986), p. 31 See also Aquarobics

noun Sometimes in the form affinity credit card (Business World) A credit card issued to members of a particular affinity group; in the UK, one which is linked to a particular charity such that the credit-card company makes a donation to the charity for each new card issued and also passes on a small proportion of the money spent by the card user. Etymology: Formed by combining affinity in the sense in which it is used in affinity group (an American term meaning 'a group of people sharing a common purpose or interest') with card°. In the case of the charity cards, the idea is that the holders of the cards share a common interest in helping the charity. History and Usage: Affinity cards were first issued in the US in the late seventies in a wide variety of different forms to cater for different interest groups. These cards were actually issued through the affinity group (which could be any non-profit organization such as a college, a union, or a club), and entitled its members to various discounts and other benefits. When the idea was taken up by large banks and building societies in the UK in 1987, it was chiefly in relation to charities, and the idea was skilfully used to attract new customers while at the same time appealing to their social conscience. One alternative [to credit-card charges] is an affinity credit card linked to a charity, although the Leeds Permanent Building Society is considering charging for its affinity cards. Observer 29 Apr. 1990, p. 37 Affinity cards cannot be used to access any account other than one maintained by a Visa card-issuing financial institution. Los Angeles Times 10 Oct. 1990, section D, p. 5

adjective and noun (People and Society) adjective: Influential largely because of great wealth; rich and powerful. noun: A person whose influential position in society derives from wealth. Etymology: Formed by telescoping affluent or affluence and influential to make a blend. History and Usage: A US coinage of the second half of the seventies, affluential became quite well established (especially as a noun) in American English during the eighties, but so far shows little sign of catching on in the UK. Spa is the name of the mineral-water resort in Belgium, and has become a word for 'watering place' associated with the weight-conscious affluentials around the world. New York Times Magazine 18 Dec. 1983, p. 13

noun (Health and Fitness) (People and Society) A psychiatric disorder affecting wealthy people and involving feelings of malaise, lack of motivation, guilt, etc. Etymology: Formed by telescoping affluence and influenza to make a blend. History and Usage: The term was popularized in the mid eighties by Californian psychiatrist John Levy, after he had conducted a study of children who grow up expecting never to need to earn a living for themselves because of inheriting large sums of money. The name affluenza had apparently been suggested by one of the patients. By the end of the eighties, the term had started to catch on and was being applied more generally to the guilt feelings of people who suspected that they earned or possessed more than they were worth. The San Francisco group also runs seminars that teach heiresses how to cope with guilt, lack of motivation, and other symptoms of affluenza, an ailment she says is rampant among children of the wealthy. Fortune 13 Apr. 1987, p. 27 Also pathogenic is 'affluenza', the virus of inherited wealth, striking young people with guilt, boredom, lack of motivation, and delayed emotional development. British Medical Journal 1 Aug. 1987, p. 324

noun Also written agism (People and Society) Discrimination or prejudice against someone on the grounds of age; especially, prejudice against middle-aged and elderly people. Etymology: Formed by adding the suffix -ism (as in racism and sexism) to age. History and Usage: The word was coined by Dr Robert Butler of Washington DC, a specialist in geriatric medicine, in 1969; by the mid seventies it was fairly common in the US but did not really enter popular usage in the UK until the late seventies or early eighties. Until then, it was often written age-ism, displaying a slight discomfort about its place in the language. Along with a number of other -isms, ageism enjoyed a vogue in the media during the eighties, perhaps partly because of a growing awareness of the rising proportion of older people in society and the need to ensure their welfare. The adjective and noun ageist both date from the seventies and have a similar history to ageism. The government campaign against 'ageism' was stepped up this weekend with a call for employers to avoid discrimination against the elderly in job advertisements. Sunday Times 5 Feb. 1989, section A, p. 4 John Palmer, who had been at that desk for many years, was completely screwed...I think that's ageist. New York 23 July 1990, p. 29 See also ableism, fattism, and heterosexism

(People and Society) see compassion fatigue

In North American slang, a stupid person; someone who speaks or acts unintelligently. Etymology: Formed by compounding: someone whose head is full of air; perhaps influenced by the earlier form bubblehead (which goes back to the fifties). History and Usage: Airhead has been a favourite American and Canadian term of abuse since the beginning of the eighties, used especially for the unintelligent but attractive type of woman that the British call a bimbo. At first airhead was associated with teenage Valspeak, but it soon spread into more general use among all age-groups. Although very common in US English by the mid eighties, airhead did not start to catch on in the UK or Australia until the end of the decade. His comedies of manners are very funny, and the vain airheads who populate his novels are wonderfully drawn. Christian Science Monitor 2 Mar. 1984, section B, p. 12 Mature women...left the airheads to be abused by the stuffy, bossy older men and wore shorter skirts than their teenage daughters. Indy 21 Dec. 1989, p. 7

noun (Lifestyle and Leisure) The part of an airport which is beyond passport controls and so is only meant to be open to the travelling public and to bona fide airport and airline staff. Etymology: Formed by compounding: the side of the airport giving access to the air (as opposed to the landside, the public area of the airport). History and Usage: The word airside has been in use in the technical vocabulary of civil aviation since at least the fifties, but only really came to public notice during the late eighties, especially after the bombing, over Lockerbie in Scotland, of a Pan-Am passenger jet after it left London's Heathrow airport in December 1988. As a result of this and other terrorist attacks on air travel, a great deal of concern was expressed about the ease with which a person could gain access to airside and plant a device, and several attempts were made by investigative reporters to breach security in this way. Tighter security arrangements were put in place. The word airside is used with or without an article, and can also be used attributively in airside pass etc. or adverbially (to go airside etc.). Far too many unvetted people have access to aircraft...No one should get an 'airside' pass without...clearance. The Times 27 June 1985, p. 12 For several hours the terminal-building was plunged into chaos. 'Airside' was sealed off by armed police. Daily Telegraph 18 Apr. 1986, p. 36

(Drugs) (People and Society) see abuse

(Lifestyle and Leisure) see -free

adjective and noun (People and Society) adjective: Disinclined to acquire information from written sources; able to read, but preferring not to. noun: A person who can read but chooses to derive information, entertainment, etc. from non-literary sources. Etymology: A hybrid word, formed by adding the Greek prefix a- in the sense 'without' to literate, a word of Latin origin. The hybrid form was intended to make a distinction between the aliterate and the illiterate (formed with the equivalent Latin prefix in-), who are unable to read and write. History and Usage: The word aliterate was coined in the late sixties, but it was not until the eighties that there began to be real evidence that the increasing popularity of television and other 'screen-based' media (including information on computer screens) was having a noticeable effect on people's use of reading and writing skills. This observation came soon after it had been revealed that there were considerable numbers of people leaving school unable to read and write. In the early eighties, the noun aliteracy developed as a counterbalance to illiteracy; the two terms described these twin problems. As the eighties progressed, graphics and video became even more heavily used to put across information, to teach, and to entertain; aliteracy is therefore likely to become increasingly prevalent in the nineties. The nation's decision-making process...is threatened by those who can read but won't, Townsend Hooper, president of the Association of American Publishers, told some 50 persons attending an 'a-literacy' conference. Publishers Weekly 1 Oct. 1982, p. 34 According to a recent estimate, 60 million Americans--almost one-third of our entire population--is illiterate. And a recent report from the Librarian of Congress suggests that we may have at least the same number who are aliterate. The Times 27 Dec. 1985, p. 12

(Lifestyle and Leisure) see mountain bike

noun and verb (Science and Technology) noun: A preliminary test of an experimental product (such as computer software), usually carried out within the organization developing it before it is sent out for beta testing. transitive verb: To submit (a product) to an alpha test. Etymology: Formed by compounding. Alpha, the first letter of the Greek alphabet, has long been used to denote the first in a series; the alpha test is the first test in a routine series. History and Usage: The concept of the alpha test comes from the world of computer software development, where it has been used since the early eighties. Its purpose is to iron out as many bugs as possible before allowing the software to be used by outsiders during the second phase of testing (see beta test). A person whose job is to test software in this way for the developer is an alpha-tester; the process is known as alpha testing and the product at this stage of development is the alpha-test version. As the operations manager for a large computer equipment manufacturer, Ray Majkut helped oversee the 90-day test of a 200-line private branch exchange, an experience he regarded as more of an alpha test than a beta test. Network World 14 Apr. 1986, p. 35 Apple set Hypercard 2.0 into alpha test right before the quake, making a spring intro likely. InfoWorld 23 Oct. 1989, p. 110

ɔ:lˈtə:nətɪv adjective and noun (Lifestyle and Leisure) adjective: Offering a different approach from the conventional or established one; belonging to the counter-culture. noun: An approach that is alternative in this way; also, a follower of alternative culture. Etymology: A simple development of sense: alternative first meant 'offering a choice between two things', but by the end of the last century could be used to refer to choices involving more than two options. The meaning dealt with here probably arose from the phrase alternative society (see below). History and Usage: The word alternative was first used in this sense when the hippie culture of the late sixties, with its rejection of materialism and traditional Western values, was described as an alternative society. Almost immediately, anything that served the counter-culture also came to be described as alternative (for example the alternative press, consisting of those newspapers and magazines that were aimed at radical youth); uses arose from within the counter-culture, too (for example the alternative prospectus, which gave the students' view of an educational establishment rather than the official view). Although the term alternative society itself had fallen from fashion by the end of the seventies, the adjective enjoyed a new vogue in the eighties as the green movement urged society to seek new approaches to natural resources, fuel sources, etc. and the health and fitness movement became increasingly influential in advocating unconventional medical therapies. The most important alternatives of the past decade have been: alternative birth, birthing (Health and Fitness), any method of childbirth that tries to get away from the intrusive, high-tech approach of modern medicine towards a more natural and homely setting in which the mother has control; alternative comedy (Lifestyle and Leisure), comedy that is not based on stereotypes (especially sexual or racial ones) or on conventional views of humour, but often includes an element of black humour or surrealism and an aggressive style of performance; also alternative comedian, alternative comedienne, practitioners of this; alternative energy (Environment), energy (such as solar power, wind generation, etc.) derived from any source that does not use up the earth's natural resources of fossil fuels or harm the environment; alternative medicine, therapy (Health and Fitness), any medical technique that aims to promote health and fitness without the use of drugs, often involving the patient in self-awareness and self-help; complementary medicine; alternative technology (Environment) (Science and Technology), technology deliberately designed to conserve natural resources and avoid harm to the environment, especially by harnessing renewable energy sources. Babies are born with as little medical intervention as possible in the hospital's Alternative Birth Center, located on a separate floor from the maternity wing. Money Dec. 1983, p. 205 A recent survey of more than 1,000 practitioners, conducted by the Institute for Complementary Medicine, found the number of patients turning to alternative therapies growing at an annual rate of 15 per cent, with a 39 per cent increase in patients visiting homeopaths. Chicago Tribune 8 Apr. 1985, p. 1 Jennifer is a 20-year-old Alternative, with short platinum hair jelled and sprayed into a cone, bright face, smart casual clothes and heavy worker's boots. Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 27 Sept. 1988, p. 17 The so-called alternative comedy boom was initially compared to the punk phenomenon and ultimately has proved to be equally as impotent. Arena Autumn/Winter 1988, p. 163 Waterfall Vegetarian Food...is launching its new range of alternative salami slices with its Vegelami slice. Grocer 21 Jan. 1989, p. 168 The...Trust will invest in companies working to ensure a better cleaner environment (waste processing, alternative energy, recycling, etc). Green Magazine Apr. 1990, p. 82

noun Sometimes written angels' dust (Drugs) In the slang of drug users, the hallucinogenic drug phencyclidine hydrochloride or PCP (see PCP°). Etymology: Formed by compounding. The drug was originally taken in the form of a powder or dust; it may be called the dust of angels because of the supposedly heavenly visions that it produces, although it has been claimed that the reason is that the drug was first distributed illegally by Hell's Angels. History and Usage: Angel dust was popular in the drugs subculture of the sixties (when the term was sometimes used to refer to drug mixtures such as cocaine, heroin, and morphine, or dried marijuana with PCP). In the eighties angel dust enjoyed a short-lived revival as one of the preferred drugs of the new psychedelia associated with acid house; the term became the usual street name this time round for PCP, which also had a large number of other slang names such as cornflakes, goon, hog, loopy dust, and rocket fuel. She could've been on something...Acid, angel dust. Elmore Leonard Glitz (1985), p. 69 PCP or 'angel dust', a strong anaesthetic which came after LSD in 1960s drug fashions...has recently emerged anew. Now they call it 'rocket fuel' in Chicago and mix it with peanut butter. Sunday Times 24 Mar. 1985, p. 12 'Angel dust', one of the most dangerous street drugs ever created, may soon have a new role--in treating heart attack and stroke victims. Observer 12 Mar. 1989, p. 32

noun (Health and Fitness) An operation to repair a damaged blood vessel or to unblock a coronary artery. Etymology: A compound formed on classical roots: angio- is the Latinized form of a Greek word, aggeion, meaning 'a vessel'; -plasty comes from Greek plastia, 'moulding, formation'. History and Usage: Angioplasty has been known as a medical term since the twenties, but came into the news during the eighties particularly as a result of the development of two new techniques for carrying it out. Balloon angioplasty, available since the mid eighties, involves passing a tiny balloon up the patient's arteries and inflating it to remove blood clots or other blockages. Laser angioplasty, still in its experimental stages in the late eighties, makes use of lasers to burn away blockages, and is designed to be minimally invasive. The development of these techniques has meant that expensive heart surgery under general anaesthetic can now often be avoided, with angioplasty taking place instead under local anaesthetic. Angioplasty by these new means has therefore been vaunted in the popular science press as a very significant medical advance. Arterial lesions would remain at the center of medical interest in coronary heart disease for decades to come. Cholesterol-lowering diets would aim to slow their growth; bypass surgery would attempt to route blood around them; in angioplasty, a tiny balloon would squeeze the lesions open. Atlantic Sept. 1989, p. 39

(Health and Fitness) (Lifestyle and Leisure) see -free

noun (Politics) An animal rights campaigner or supporter. Etymology: A contraction of animal liberationist; formerly, an animalist was a follower of the philosophy of animalism or an artist who treated animal subjects. History and Usage: This snappier term arose in US English during the mid eighties and is as yet barely established in the language. The movement to which it refers, variously known as animal liberation, animal lib, and animal rights, has a much longer history--the term animal liberation goes back to the early seventies--and there is a good case for a term which would be less of a mouthful than animal liberationist or animal rights campaigner, although this one suffers from possible confusion with the opposite meaning of the adjective animalist in the entry below. The uproar resulted from a column two weeks ago in which I reported that animalist Barbara Toth was enraged over the possibility that some Asian immigrants in Canoga Park might be turning strays into dog foo young. Los Angeles Times (Valley edition) 22 July 1985, section 2, p. 7 The dismal sight on Tuesday night of bedraggled 'animalists' distributing protest literature to queues of happy families agog with the expectancy of pure pleasure. Financial Times 28 July 1988, p. 21

adjective (People and Society) Discriminating against animals; demeaning animals or denying them rights by the way one speaks, thinks, or behaves. Etymology: Formed by adding the suffix -ist as used in racist or sexist to animal: compare ageist (see ageism). History and Usage: Also very new and still rare, this sense of animalist is a British usage which promises to give rise to some considerable confusion by creating a situation in which the noun animalist and its corresponding adjective carry almost opposite meanings. Ultimately one or other sense must surely survive at the expense of the other--if indeed either catches on. Animal rights campaigners on Merseyside are urging parents and teachers to stop children using 'animalist' expressions, which they claim demean certain creatures. Daily Telegraph 27 Oct. 1989, p. 5

noun (Lifestyle and Leisure) (Science and Technology) The technique of constructing robots which look like animals, people, etc. and which are programmed to perform lifelike movements to the accompaniment of a pre-recorded soundtrack. Etymology: Formed by combining the first three syllables of animated with the last two of electronics to make a blend. History and Usage: The idea of animatronics (which originally had the even more complicated name audio-animatronics, now a trade mark) was developed by Walt Disney during the sixties for use at the World's Fair and later for Disneyland and other theme parks. The movements and gestures of the robots (each of which may be called an animatron or an animatronic) are extremely lifelike, but because they are pre-programmed they cannot be responsive or interactive: for this reason, animatronics has been described as being 'like television with the screen removed'. During the eighties, animatronics became more widely known as the theme park idea and the robotics technology were exported from the US to other parts of the world. Although it looks plural in form, animatronics always takes a singular agreement when it refers to the technique; plural agreement indicates that it is being used for a group of the robots themselves. The adjective used to describe the technology or the robots is animatronic. 'How-about-some-you'd-pay-twice-as-much-for-anywhere-else,' yells Stein, his mouth seeming to move independently of the words, like one of those eerie Animatronic Disney robots. Forbes 12 Nov. 1979, p. 177 Sally Animatronics Pty Ltd has set up shop in Sydney to capitalise on what it perceives to be a boom market in Australia...--the production of lifelike robots for theme parks, exhibitions and museums. The robots, known as animatronics, were made famous by Disneyland...Designing an animatronic figure is a difficult process. The Australian 24 Nov. 1987, p. 58 The animals and acrobats of the popular entertainment will give way to a Disney-style 'animatronic' show, part of a ø17.5-million plan to revamp the Tower. The Times 28 Sept. 1990, p. 17

adjective Sometimes written antichoice (Health and Fitness) (People and Society) Especially in US English, opposed to the principle of allowing a woman to choose for herself whether or not to have an abortion; a derogatory synonym for pro-life (see under pro-). Etymology: Formed by adding the prefix anti- in the sense 'against' to choice. History and Usage: The whole issue of abortion has been an extremely contentious one in US politics during the past fifteen years. The term anti-choice arose in the second half of the seventies as a label applied to pro-life campaigners by those who had fought for women's rights in the US and resented the erosion of their work by the anti-abortion lobby. As such it is deliberately negative in form (supporters of the rights of the unborn child would describe themselves in more positive terms such as pro-life or right-to-life). Although abortion has also been an important issue in the UK in the eighties, the term anti-choice has hardly been used in British sources until quite recently. She said there are at least three races in the state where a clear anti-choice incumbent is being opposed by a strong pro-choice challenger. San Francisco Chronicle 26 June 1990, section B, p. 4

adjective (Science and Technology) Of the brakes of a car or other vehicle: set up so as to prevent locking and skidding when applied suddenly; especially in anti-lock brake (or braking) system (ABS), a patent system which allows sudden braking without any locking of the wheels. Etymology: Formed by adding the prefix anti- in the sense 'preventing' to the verb stem lock. History and Usage: Anti-lock braking was developed in the sixties from a similar system which had been applied to aeroplanes (under the name wheel-slide protection system). The first application to motor vehicles was Lockheed's Antilok (a trade mark); at first it was used mainly for heavy trucks and the like. The term began to appear frequently in car advertising in the early eighties, when the system became generally available on private cars (either as an optional extra or a standard feature), and was used as a strong marketing point. The system works by momentarily releasing the brakes and freeing the locked wheel as often as necessary to avoid skid. Anti-lock is occasionally used on its own as a noun as a shortened form of anti-lock brake system. Unlike car systems, the motorcycle ABS does not allow full application of the brakes while cornering. Daily Mirror (Sydney) 21 Oct. 1988, p. 111 An anti-lock brake system is available. This amazing sports sedan also has a Bumper-to-Bumper warranty that's good for 3 years. Life Fall 1989, p. 85

adjective (Health and Fitness) Having had a positive result in a blood test for the Aids virus HIV; at risk of developing Aids. Etymology: Formed by compounding; having a positive test for antibodies to HIV. Long before Aids, antibody-positive was in technical use for the result of any blood test for antibodies to a virus; it is only in popular usage that it has become specialized almost exclusively to the Aids sense. History and Usage: This sense of antibody-positive arose during the mid eighties, when fear of Aids was at its height and much publicity was given to it. Since infection with HIV could precede the onset of any Aids symptoms by a period of years, and only some of those who were tested positive would in fact develop symptoms at any time, health officials emphasized the need to avoid over-reacting to a positive test and tried (with varying degrees of success) to prevent discrimination against those who were known to be antibody-positive. The adjective for a person found not to have been infected or a test with a negative result is antibody-negative, but this is less commonly found in popular sources. Without testing facilities at, say, clinics for sexually transmitted diseases, 'high-risk' donors might give blood simply to find out their antibody status (and possibly transmit the virus while being antibody-negative). New Statesman 27 Sept. 1985, p. 14 This longstanding concentration on the clinical manifestations of AIDS rather than on all stages of HIV infection (i.e., from initial infection to seroconversion, to an antibody-positive asymptomatic stage, to full-blown AIDS) has had the...effect of misleading the public. Susan Sontag Aids & its Metaphors (1989), p. 31

(Science and Technology) see vaccine

In financial jargon, a dealer in stocks who takes advantage of differing values in different markets to make money; especially on the US stock exchange, a dealer in the stocks of companies facing take-over bids. Etymology: A colloquial shortened form of arbitrageur, a French word borrowed into English in the late nineteenth century for any stock dealer who makes his money from buying stock in one market and selling in another. History and Usage: Although the practice of arbitrage (the simultaneous buying and selling of large quantities of stock in different markets so as to take advantage of the price difference) is well established--it dates from the late nineteenth century--the word arbitrageur was not shortened to arb in print until Wall Street risk arbitrageurs started buying up large quantities of stock in companies facing take-over bids in the late seventies. These take-overs attracted considerable media interest, and the word arb started to appear frequently in the financial sections of newspapers from about the beginning of the eighties. For a start you often have to make use of the 'arbs', very useful gentlemen indeed in a bid battle. Sunday Telegraph 25 Mar. 1984, p. 19 It should have been the risk arbitrageurs' finest year...Instead, in the wake of archrival Ivan F. Boesky's admission of insider trading, the arbs are being battered. Business Week 8 Dec. 1986, p. 36

noun Sometimes in the form aromatotherapy (Health and Fitness) A complementary therapy which makes use of essential oils and other plant extracts to promote a person's health, general well-being, or beauty. Etymology: Actually borrowed from French aromath÷rapie, although the formation of the English word is self-explanatory: therapy based on aromatic oils. History and Usage: Aromatherapy was promoted by the French chemist Ren÷-Maurice Gattefoss÷ in the thirties, but was not widely taken up in English-speaking countries until the seventies, when the search began for natural remedies to replace the increasingly intrusive techniques of traditional medicine. There was nothing new, of course, in the use of plant extracts for medicinal purposes; it was the therapeutic effect of inhaling the aromatic oils or massaging them into the skin that Gattefoss÷ claimed to have discovered anew. During the eighties, when alternative therapies proliferated and there was a premium on the use of natural ingredients, aromatherapy graduated from fringe status to a reasonably respected technique, especially for the relief of stress-related symptoms. A practitioner of aromatherapy is called an aromatherapist; the adjective used to describe an oil which has some use in aromatherapy is aromatherapeutic. Today in Britain most therapists and their clients use aromatherapy as a form of relaxation with some benefits to minor medical conditions. Here's Health June 1988, p. 89 For details of a qualified aromatherapist in your area contact the International Federation of Aromatherapists. Prima Aug. 1988, p. 74

(Science and Technology) see AI

The first word of a number of compounds fashionable in the business and financial world, including: asset card, a US name for the debit card (see card°); asset management, the active management of the assets of a company so as to optimize the return on investments; the job of an asset manager; asset-stripping, the practice of selling off the assets of a company (especially one which has recently been taken over) so as to make maximum profit, but without regard for the company's future; the activity of an asset-stripper. Etymology: The word assets, which originally came from Anglo-French assets (modern French assez enough) was reinterpreted as a plural noun with a singular asset by the nineteenth century; however, it was only in the late twentieth century that it acquired compounds based on this singular form. History and Usage: All three compounds entered the language through US business usage in the mid seventies; asset-stripping had been practised since the fifties, but did not become widely known by this name until the seventies. Asset management and asset-stripping have been widely used in the UK during the eighties, even moving into non-technical usage. By the end of the decade, though, asset-stripping had become an unfashionable name for an activity which financiers now preferred to call unbundling: see unbundle. Guinness Peat's chief executive...reckons that institutions in the post Big Bang City will take one of three forms--bankers, traders or asset managers. Investors Chronicle 1 Nov. 1985, p. 54 The solution...--moving the $2 billion asset card business to...South Dakota--ushered in a new era in interstate banking. US Banker Mar. 1986, p. 42 One of the large mutual fund families...offers not only a variety of funds but an asset management account that would give you a monthly record of all transactions, including reinvestment of dividends. Christian Science Monitor 20 Feb. 1987, section B, p. 2 A more relevant description of Hanson's strategy would be asset-mining rather than asset-stripping; that is, the development of undervalued assets for hidden value. National Westminster Bank Quarterly Review May 1987, p. 27 They were returning...from visiting a foundry in Derby that had been taken over by asset-strippers. David Lodge Nice Work (1988), p. 154

(Science and Technology) see animatronics

noun (Health and Fitness) (Lifestyle and Leisure) A relaxation technique in which the patient is taught a form of self-hypnosis and biofeedback as a way of managing stress. Etymology: A translation of the German name, das autogene Training. Autogenic, an adjective which has been used in English since the late nineteenth century, literally means 'self-produced'. It is not the training that is self-produced, though; autogenic training is designed to teach people how to produce a feeling of calm and well-being in themselves in stressful circumstances. A more accurate (though long-winded) name would be training in autogenic relaxation. History and Usage: Autogenic training was invented in Germany and first popularized by psychiatrist and neurologist Johannes Schultz from the thirties until the fifties. It is the first of three stages in a method which is known in its entirety as autogenic therapy. Although it has reputedly been used by East German athletes for decades, it only became widely practised outside Germany in the seventies and eighties. The technique is particularly useful for athletes because it offers the possibility of bringing about positive changes in one's own physical state (such as lowering blood pressure or reducing heart-rate). Autogenics is an alternative name for autogenic therapy or autogenic training; although plural in form, this noun (like aerobics) can take singular or plural agreement. A new study indicates that autogenics--a form of mental press-ups--are as good for reducing stress...as physical exertions. She July 1985, p. 115 Liz Ferris uses autogenic training with athletes. This discipline is designed to help switch off the body's stress mechanisms. Observer 6 May 1990, p. 21

(Business World) see ATM

əˈwɛə adjective (Environment) (People and Society) Of a person, social group, etc.: fully informed about current issues of concern in a particular field. Of a product: designed, manufactured, or marketed in such a way as to take account of current concerns and attitudes. (Often with a preceding adverb indicating the field of concern, as ecologically or environmentally aware, socially aware, etc.) Etymology: Formed by increasingly elliptical use of the adjective: first, people were described as being aware of certain issues, then they were simply described as socially (etc.) aware, and finally their quality of awareness was ascribed to the products which resulted from their concerns. History and Usage: People have been described as socially or politically aware since the early seventies; as the green movement gained momentum in the late seventies and early eighties it became increasingly important to be ecologically or environmentally aware as well. The adjective started to be applied to things as well as people in the early eighties; this usage remains limited in practice to environmentally aware products and activities and sometimes appears to mean only that some part of the profit on the sales is to be donated to a green cause. Most of the machines described as being 'environmentally aware' will also cost you over ø400. Which? Jan. 1990, p. 49 The main dessert component was one of the few ecologically aware trademarked foods, the 'Rainforest Crunch' ice cream made by Ben & Jerry's, which donates some of the profits from this flavor to a rain forest preservation fund. Los Angeles Times 21 June 1990, section E, p. 8

In North American slang (especially among young people): marvellous, great, stunningly good. Etymology: Awesome originally meant 'full of awe', but by the end of the seventeenth century could also be used in the sense 'inspiring awe, dreadful'. The apparent reversal of meaning that has now taken place started through a weakening of the word's meaning during the middle decades of the twentieth century to 'staggering, remarkable'; this was then further weakened and turned into an enthusiastic term of approval in the eighties. History and Usage: Within the youth culture, terms of approval come into fashion and go out again quite rapidly. After becoming frequent in its weakened sense of 'mind-boggling' during the sixties and seventies, awesome was taken up in the eighties as one of the most fashionable words of general approval among young Americans. In particular it was associated with the speech of preppies and the New York smart set, and often seemed to be part of a fixed phrase, preceded by totally. Surprisingly, it has remained popular among young people into the nineties, and has spread outside the US to Canada and Australia. It has been used in British English in this sense too, but really only in caricatures of US speech. Stuck in a rut...the kid was at the end of his rope when out of the blue... kaboom...'Awesome!! The Acclaim remote for Nintendo!' Captain America Nov. 1989, p. 7 Roxanne Shante is quite simply the baddest sister around, and teamed with Marley Marl at the mixing desk she is awesome. Number One 8 Nov. 1989, p. 43 That night I freebased a fractal of crack and blissed out on E. It was awesome. It was ace. It was wicked, bad and def. It was twenty quid. OUCH! Blitz Dec. 1989, p. 130