
reminds me of how I used "tweens" as shorthand for "twentysomethings" for like 10 years before the wider internet decided it meant "between child and teenager, i.e. 12-year-olds". there's an old callout post that resurfaces on twitter occasionally (or used to, I haven't checked). good times
I hate to say it, but as a person who was a teenager in the 80s, they called us “tweens” back then, too. (OED has 1946 as the earliest date for the word in that sense.)
I got it from Lord of the Rings, which was published in 1954. I didn't say I invented it or that my usage was ever predominant, but it also wasn't confusing to anyone until 2014 or so, when "tween" meaning "preteen" got widespread online
Do people really use that term for actual children? I've never heard that
They do! I've only heard it in the last couple years but it's a thing. I went to visit some relatives and they said "come on in, the littles are playing in the living room" and they did not mean 36-year-olds in onesies
I had this same thing happen once semi-recently and it kind of destroyed my brain
This made me scream. I would have to leave the room if someone did this IRL.