Recency Illusion
The belief or impression that something (typically a word or language usage), is of recent origin when it is long-established.
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Origin
Coined by Stanford linguist Arnold Zwicky in a 2005 Language Log post. Zwicky named the tendency to believe that a word or usage you’ve just noticed is new — when often it’s been around for decades. Closely related to the frequency illusion (Baader–Meinhof phenomenon): once you notice something, you suddenly see it everywhere.
Updated February 22, 2026