Adrenaline

Many of the books I edit are crime fiction of some variety, and invariably, the sleuth or agent ends up in a perilous situation at some point during the story. Often this causes their “adrenaline” to kick in.

When I read the word in a 1920s’ mystery, I wondered if the term had actually been coined by that time, and I was a bit surprised to discover that the earliest example given in the OED is from 1893. According to an article in the British Medical Journal, it was in that year that researchers first discovered the dramatic pharmacological effects of the substance in the adrenal glands – adrenaline. So yes, my 1920s’ sleuth could well have known the word, although they wouldn’t have called someone an “adrenaline junkie”, as that term came much later in 1976.