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yendiOne of my British science podcasts -- either The Guardian's Science Weekly or BBC's Science in Action -- actually used the word "Ginormous."
I'd assumed that it was an example of recent slang slipping into usage, but a quick Google revealed that it's been in use since 1948 (and check out the comments from various enraged prescriptivists).
Then I checked the OED (I won't bother with a link, since I get it through work), to discover that the phrase " ginormous £1,700 billion" had appeared in The Economist nearly 35 years ago. So yeah, it's no longer even close to the common slang I'd been assuming. Color me surprised.
I'd assumed that it was an example of recent slang slipping into usage, but a quick Google revealed that it's been in use since 1948 (and check out the comments from various enraged prescriptivists).
Then I checked the OED (I won't bother with a link, since I get it through work), to discover that the phrase " ginormous £1,700 billion" had appeared in The Economist nearly 35 years ago. So yeah, it's no longer even close to the common slang I'd been assuming. Color me surprised.