Vol. 10 · Portmanteaus ·Late 20th century ·1980
Rollerblade
roller-skate blade
- Meaning
- An in-line skate with wheels arranged in a single line.
- Source words
- roller-skate + blade
- Coined by
- Scott and Brennan Olson
- Year
- 1980
Background
The Olson brothers, Minnesota hockey players, founded Rollerblade Inc. in 1980 to sell modified ice-hockey off-ice trainers. The brand name generalised so fast that the company had to run ad campaigns insisting the proper generic term is *in-line skate*.
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.
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