What's the word?

Had a friend when I was growing up.  Yep.  I had one.
Mom didn't like him.  He had a problem that he said was a 'syndrome'. 
He said 'damnit'.
He said it after each and every sentence he spoke.  Instead of a period, he inserted 'damnit'.  I loved it.  He said he couldn't help it.  I didn't care.  He got away with it.  In front of adults, he did it.  And nobody beat him.  That just wouldn't happen at my house.

Anyway, that's not what this short is about.  This is about the word.  The word of the era.  Of the cool. Actually 'cool' itself is a word.  It's the default word.  'Cool' was the word way back.  Jimmy Dean probably used 'cool'.  We still use it today.  But I'm wondering what the cool word is now.  The word used by the cool at this time.

I think 'neat' and/or 'neato' was the word when I was in cub scouts and little league.  'Nifty' made it into my memory for a short time.  When I grew into a high-schooler I began wearing my hair longer and hanging with the pseudo hippies, we learned to say 'far out'.  'Groovy' was totally uncool.  'Fab' was too.  'fab' was almost certainly used by those who only think they're cool.  They have some kind of influence, maybe money, and so somebody listens to them.  And some of those listeners adopt some of the things they do but we never really took on 'Fab'.  Or 'groovy' either. 

Sometime in the not so far back past, sometime in that last century, they came up with 'rad' and 'bad', 'glam' and 'gnarly' I liked 'bad'.  Good things are bad.  My kind of talking. 

Then it was 'awesome'.  Our niece came for a visit and we were awesome.  Oklahoma was awesome.  Our house was awesome.  I'm awesome.  Our dogs, too, they're awesome.  The cowboy hat we bought her to take back home to Philadelphia was totally awesome.  Oh wait.  'Totally'.  That one too.  Her entire visit was so awesome.

I'm sure I've missed a bunch.  That's not my point.  What is my point anyway. 

Well, there's not really any kind of point here.  I was just wondering where these words come from.  Is there a group somewhere?  Is there a cluster of creative people who come up with a word and somehow launch it out into the society-sphere to see if it catches on or not?  Is there a spearhead of influential people who introduce new words?  How do they know it's a good word?  How do others, the followers, the new word adopters know?  How do they know that this is the word to start using instead of the other word they've been using?  Is it a fraternity?  Sorority?  Group of rich kids?  Writers somewhere? 

How do these words come about.  How do people know to use them.  I guess it's sort of like a cold.  You stand near someone in line or something and they say 'clabspar'.  You act as if you didn't notice.  But you heard it. And it sounds cool to you. You imagine yourself in a group of friends, being the first of the group to say the new word to them.  You know it'll make you into an impressive and progressive person.  'Clabspar'.  You roll it around on your frontal lobes a bit.  You like it more and more.  You run into a friend or two.  You tell them something.  Who cares what.  You just want to adjetivize that something with this new cool word.  "I had that new burger at the Sonic, dude.  It was really good.  'Clabspar, dude". 
Your friend doesn't respond to the new word at all.  But they heard it.  Now, like that cold, they have it in their system.  They'll use it too.  Later on today.  In the coolest company.  Who will also catch the new word.  And clabspar is now launched.  To the travel the world.  Until the next one is used.

That's what I plan to do when I retire. 
I'll sit on my porch.  Contemplating Colorado.  Introducing new words. 
I'm not even gonna charge.