Indeed

Words come and go in popularity and sometimes their use stands out since they are used so rarely. Then suddenly, they are heard repeatedly over a short timeframe. I suspect this trend is accentuated by the internet and the speed with which new ideas are propagated, adopted and discarded. A few years ago, the word “wheelhouse” bloomed into the “It” word for a few months, then faded quickly once it was perceived as overused and a cliché.

Indeed, this can occur multiple times over a single year, with words coming and going. One word that has struck me as a potential candidate is in fact “indeed”. It is a familiar enough word, we all understand it, yet I went a good 20 years without anyone ever using the word with me. In the last three weeks, I’ve received it as a response from three different sources, both in correspondence and in conversation, in Europe and the US.

I don’t know what triggered this sudden use or if it is an anomaly, but I’m interested to see if it gains a solid footing to become more common and how long it will be used with regularity.

Report any sighings (or hearings) of it below.