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Julie's avatar

That word has been bugging me. Thank you for this! Seems like a trendy way of saying group. A little too precious for me.

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Jim Knudsen's avatar

Cohort has been used by demographers for decades. It is more specific than group in that there is an underlying common characteristic(s). If someone said a group of women, you might imagine women with a variety of ages, marital status, religions, etc. However, if someone says a cohort of women, you should inquire about those characteristics. For instance, a cohort of women might be white, married, and over 65. I haven’t noticed that cohort is used any more or less than I’ve seen it over the years, so I can’t comment if it is being used correctly where you are seeing it. I do find that there are fads to language use. For instance, one that drives me crazy is when educators use “learners”. What’s wrong with students?

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Julie Gammack's avatar

Yes, 'cohort' has been around for years. Maybe it's just the fact that I heard it used in unusual circumstances three times in a row recently.

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Bob Shreck's avatar

Mom claimed "cohort" was my first word, in late 1946.

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Julie Gammack's avatar

I just saw this comment. I would not be surprised!

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John Schmidt's avatar

I love words and love learning and using new ones. Thanks for highlighting these words!

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Marshall Grabau's avatar

GREAT column. As a local government 'pro', I experienced 'stakeholder' replacing resident, taxpayer,etc.

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Julie Gammack's avatar

Good point.

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Julie Gammack's avatar

Good one!

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Andrea Dorn's avatar

This isn't exactly the same as this thread, but it does illustrate how terms get picked up. Years ago I started calling Box elder bugs "Hermans." I don't know why, it just seemed to fit. I had to laugh one day when I saw my niece point to a bug and say "Herman." (No offense to anyone named Herman)

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Julie Gammack's avatar

Hermans! What a hoot!

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Bob Shreck's avatar

My grandparents' white farm home in S.W. Iowa was black with these bugs on the sunny side each summer and I was raised to call them "Democrat bugs". As an early teen I finally inquired of my good Hooverite grandma, "Why?"

"Because the good Lord made so many of them!"

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Julie Gammack's avatar

Oh, so funny!

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David Dettmann's avatar

Cohort is a term used in science research and discussion, and was commonly used when I started psychology reserarch in the 1970's. The Iowa Writers group is a cohort of journalists, etc. Here is term (at least as slang) which I don't hear much now, and which was always intriguing as it was a contradiction: "co-op" was used to describe something or somebody who would block or interfere an action, etc. in contrast to the usual meaning of cooperation, working together.

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Bob Shreck's avatar

perhaps, "co-opt"?

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Chuck Offenburger's avatar

Julie, I’m “hep,” as we’d say long ago, to “cohort,” “greenwashing” and I even understand “‘microaggression” although I don’t condone it. But “plethora” remains banned in my cohort.

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Phillip Owen's avatar

Thanks for a reminder. KISS - I’ve survived 85 years with Farm Kid One Room Country School English - with passionate love of reading all genres - even Farm kids eventually become emotionally attached with strange combinations of our alphabet.

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Scott Helmers's avatar

Cohort is regularly used in medical research reporting. It does denote a group, possibly the control group, in which they are matched to be so alike that variation occurs from the study question and not from inherent diversity.

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Julie Gammack's avatar

Interesting!

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Marjorie Nelson's avatar

I still can hear my dad yelling at me back in the 50’s after my friends and I skipped school to go shopping in Fort Dodge, “What in hell are you and your cohorts going to cook up next?” Obviously, context told me the meaning.

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Sarah Fay's avatar

We also have a Forum (instead of a thread) in honor of the word cohort's Roman origins!

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