Additions to the Western lexicon

Hipster (1941): someone who is ‘Hip’ or in touch with the fashion.

Hippy (1953): originally Hipster (1941) was used  but then ‘Hippy’ became the term to use in the 1960s to denote West Coast American youth rejecting conventional society.

Flower Children/Flower People (1967): alternative name for Hippies. see above.

Freak (1967): Someone who freaks out on drugs

Generation Gap (1967): Difference in outlook between older and younger people.

Groupie (1967): a young female fan of rock group.

‘Love In’/‘Be-In’ (1967) : communal acts usually by students.

‘Straight’ (1967):  Someone who conforms to conventions of society.

Vibes (1967): instinctive feelings.

Source: John Ayto 20^th Century Words (Oxford, 1999).

This year, 2017, will witness the fiftieth anniversary of what subsequently became known as the ‘Summer of Love.’[1] One of its legacies as can be seen above, was to add to the Western lexicon. Indeed, 1967 was the year in which the counterculture became ‘visible’ in Western society and the underground came up for air. This was to be the year of the ‘hippies,’ or the ‘flower children’ as they were also known. Continue reading →

On 25 November, 2016 Bocconi University hosted the final conference on Guido Alfani’s five-year European Research Council grant on pre-industrial inequalities in Europe. The idea for the project was born well before anyone beyond the banlieue of Paris had heard of Thomas Piketty. Moreover, it has asked different questions from Piketty and has investigated the longue durée before Piketty’s research begins in the nineteenth century. Continue reading →