Everybody knows Grexit is an amalgamation of Greece and exit, which was later adapted into Brexit, but what are the earliest recorded instances of these words? A generation or two down the line people will want to know, and then it would be a lot harder to find out.
The Wikipedia article on Grexit says “the term was coined by the Citigroup economist Ebrahim Rahbari and was introduced by Rahbari and Citigroup's Global Chief Economist Willem H. Buiter on 6 February 2012”, but does not provide the actual quote.
The Wikipedia article on Brexit does not even give a date for the word first appearance.
So what are the earliest recorded instances of these words, and when did they happen?
Best Answer
“Grexit” was coined by Ebrahim Rahbari, an economist at Citigroup. It first appeared in a report co-authored in February 2012 with Willem Buiter, the bank’s outspoken chief economist, which put the chances of Greece leaving the euro at 50 per cent over the following 18 months.
Here is the original piece of research (6 february 2012) where the term was first used:
Rising Risks of Greek Euro Area Exit :
The term became quickly widespread and generated other well-know imitations. only a few months later,
while on June the 21st, 2012, The Economist wrote:
Would-be words of the eurozone crisis:
Oxfordictionaries.com