Merriam-Webster Dictionary Business Words of the Year: 1979-1988

As we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Goizueta Business School, the business librarians thought it might be fun to explore the evolution of business terminology between 1919 and 2019. So each month we will post a blog identifying business words and concepts that were captured in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary for the decades that GBS has been in operation. Here is our seventh entry, business-speak from 1979-1988!  

1979 Adjustable rate mortgage / Commoditize / Compact disc / Laser printer / Outsource 

1980 401(k) / Demand-side / Ecotourism / Gazillionaire / Infotainment / Limited liability partnership / Microcredit / Microenterprise / Yuppie / Ziplock 

1981 Biodiesel / Cable modem / Camcorder / Golden parachute / Infomercial / Infotech / Lemon law / Securitize / Spreadsheet 

1982 Co-brand / Domain name / E-mail / Flow-through entity / Hard drive / Multitasker / Product placement 

1983 Beta test / BOGO / Cell phone / Dry-erase board / Mouse pad / Poison pill 

1984 Buppie / Desktop publishing / Digital subscriber line / FedEx / Glass ceiling / Laptop / Postconsumer / Search engine / Spokesmodel 

1985 Cleantech / Cosmeceutical / IP address / Latte / Microbrew 

1986 Craft beer / Dress-down day / Fax modem / FYI / Junk e-mail / McJob / Pain point 

1987 Emoticon / FAQ / Flex-fuel / Off-label / Point-of-service / Single-payer / Virtual reality 

1988 E-book / Functional food / Hyperlink / Microloan / Onboarding / Stress ball 

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