Increasingly over the past few years I've been hearing and seeing the use of the noun, tween, to describe what I took to be a teeny-bopper when I was in high school. But the strange thing is, I ususally see it used in this sequence: pre-teens, tweens, and teens (or teenagers).
Now, when I was growing up you were a pre-teen, then a teeny-bopper (10-12), and then, at 13, you became a real teen, an official teenager. So I was wondering where tween fits in. This is from the AHD:

>tween

PRONUNCIATION: twn
NOUN: A child between middle childhood and adolesence, usually between 8 and 12 years old.
ETYMOLOGY: Blend of teen1 and between.<

So does this mean that today kids younger than 8 are considered pre-teens? And teeny-boppery has been pushed back to 8? I know kids are growing up a lot faster these days, but.

And when and why did tween start being used instead of teeny-bopper?


"Teeny-boppery's our newborn king, unh huh"

--Sonny & Cher, The Beat Goes On, 1966