From this weeks AWADmail:

My son is nine years old and we have been learning a new word a day for the past week. I thought he wasn't paying attention until I actually heard him using the word gadarene to describe a wreck during a BMX race this weekend. "Well, that was a total gadarene!"

He then explained the meaning to his friend who nodded and went on to use that same word again. By the end of the day, gadarene had become the word for a common mistake that new racers make which causes wrecks. (Rushing out of the starting gate with little or no control over the bike.) Since this was a championship race, there were many young people from many different places who picked up this word and will share it. I foresee hearing the word gadarene often at BMX tracks in the future.


So, years from now, etymologists will wonder how the word gadarene suddenly popped up in the world of BMX racing and how it became a noun at the same time. I wonder how many other words have suffered equivalent fates.