Volume 3 · 1926–2026, with earlier foundations where needed

The Words We Use

Follow slang, euphemisms, political labels, professional terminology, and changing definitions. Separate word origins from later changes in meaning.

Status: Follows Who Writes History. This page is the volume's public research plan. No chapters have been drafted and no findings are claimed yet. Sources, change records and chapters will appear here as they are verified, each with a date.

Questions this volume will test

1. For each term studied, when is its earliest documented use, and when and where did its meaning change?
2. Which changes came from ordinary speech, and which from institutions such as style guides, professional manuals, government forms or courts?
3. Where did a new word bring a changed rule, right or duty, and where did it only relabel the same practice?
4. How did political labels shift in meaning, and who used each meaning?
5. Which popular origin stories for words are unsupported by the documentary record?

Records to collect

• Dated dictionary editions and usage notes
• Newspaper and book corpora (frequency is a first look only, never proof by itself)
• Style guides and professional manuals, by edition
• Government forms, statutes and court opinions that defined terms
• Transcripts, advertisements and school materials showing everyday use

Method

The same eight questions as every volume: what changed, when and where, who promoted or opposed it, what reasons they gave, how it entered practice, what happened afterward, what else could explain it, and how strong the finding is. See the method.