Adolescent illusion

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The adolescent illusion is the belief that those who are currently children are responsible for undesirable contemporary language trends.

For example, Mark Liberman, a linguist at the University of Pennsylvania, found that the expression "like totally" was not mainly associated with young American women and girls but was commonest among middle-aged men, including George W. Bush.

[edit] See also

• Antiquity illusion
• Infrequency illusion
• Out-group illusion
• Recency illusion

[edit] External links

• New Scientist article (subscription only; hard copy at New Scientist, 17 November 2007 p. 60)