On the Origin of FOMO

I read this book once about the creation of the oxford dictionary (because I'm just that cool). Wealthy people (or prisoners)  in Europe with nothing else to do sat around reading the classics, trying to find the origin of a word.

I remember the exact moment the acronym fomo came to me. I was walking down 5th Avenue (see? I am cool), talking to one of my best friend's moms. She was saying that she has an intense fear of missing fun, or missing out on anything. I told her that this is a very common fear in my generation, because facebook tells me hourly all of the things I've missed out on. It was so common it should have an abbreviation. And the neurons that spark ingenuity came, "fomo". Not only does it sound like a real disease, but it also rhymes with "slow", "no go" and "can't wait no mo'" and yes I fully intend to make a rap one day.

The facebook feed: the solution to fomo or the cause?

I have had a lot of opportunities to use this acronym in the past year (because I have a lot of friends and can't be everywhere at once, not because I'm not invited obviously). It is so applicable and catchy, all my friends started saying it, then I started hearing it around campus, and then today I saw this:

A few hours later I was reading a TIME magazine article about my generation (remember my coolness?) and saw the acronym again! I would put the link to this article, but the poor magazine is now charging for internet subscriptions, so you'll just have to believe me.

Now, I know this phenomenon didn't stem from me. I just don't have the entitlement and ownership issues baby boomers claim millenials have.

What I do know, is that fomo came to me strolling through New York City.

Which brings the question, is there any such thing as an original idea?