Vol. 10 · Portmanteaus ·Late 20th century ·1992
Meatspace
meat cyberspace
- Meaning
- The physical, non-digital world, as opposed to online life.
- Source words
- meat + cyberspace
- Coined by
- John Perry Barlow (popularised)
- Year
- 1992
Background
Used on early internet bulletin boards as an ironic counter-term to *cyberspace*; the deliberately crude *meat* keeps the word irreverent. Usage declined after 2010 as the online/offline distinction blurred.
Late 20th century
Marketing, media, and the early internet. Infomercial, emoticon, workaholic — the coinages name phenomena of mass media and white-collar life. Several predate the decades they're associated with.
Two words, one coinage.
Browse every portmanteau on the shelf — or cross over to the loanwords atlas.