Brexit - "British" and "exit" references the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union.

This term was first coined by Peter Wilding, the chairman of British Influence, in a 2012 blog post called "Stumbling Towards the Brexit."

Brexit culminates after several decades of history.

Originally, the European Communities, predecessor to the EU were created in in the 1950s. Great Britain attempted to join in 1963 and again in '67 but was vetoed by Charles De Gaulle, President of France - some of those not always warm and fuzzy Anglo-French relations.

Finally, on the third attempt, the UK joined in 1973 under the Conservative government of Edward Heath. But not everyone was happy with the arrangement.

There was a segment of the population known as Eurosceptics - another portmanteau.

In the 1970s and 1980s these voices for withdrawal were mostly from the political left.

Then in the 1990s the political right started showing opposition to further EU integration and this led to the creation of The United Kingdom Independence Party - UKIP which split off from the Conservative Party.

This may also have been a factor in the UK never adopting the euro and staying with the pound sterling as their currency. Prime Minister Tony Blair declared that there were five economic tests that the euro must meet. It failed the five-tests and the pound has remained in the UK.

Fast forward nearly 20 years and on June 23 2016, 51.9 percent voted to leave the EU. This vote resulted in Prime Minister David Cameron resigning after losing his campaign against Brexit. He was succeeded by Theresa May.

The UK was scheduled to exit March 29th 2019 but that deadline was extended to October 31st.

Also in March, Prime Minister Theresa May proposed "slow brexit" but ultimately under pressure she resigned effective June 7th of the year.

July 24th 2019 Boris Johnson (BoJo - another portmanteau) was elected Prime Minister in his first statement to the House of Commons as prime minister, he affirmed his absolute commitment to leaving the EU October 31st, with or without any kind of deal.

Brexit is a perfect example of the scope and power of one word.

Resources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euroscepticism

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Communities

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_European_Union–United_Kingdom_relations

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brexit

https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/100314/why-doesnt-england-use-euro.asp

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BoJo