Vol. 10 · Portmanteaus ·Early 20th century ·1924
Sexpert
sex expert
- Meaning
- A self-styled authority on sex — journalist, author, advice columnist.
- Source words
- sex + expert
- Coined by
- collective
- Year
- 1924
Background
First appears in US tabloid copy about Freud's translators. The word has cycled back into fashion with every new sex-advice columnist — from Dr. Ruth to Dan Savage.
Early 20th century
Industrialisation generated new things that needed new names, fast. Motoring, electricity, telecommunications, and urban pollution all produced portmanteaus within a generation of their arrival.
Two words, one coinage.
Browse every portmanteau on the shelf — or cross over to the loanwords atlas.