10 Seinfeldisms That Became Part Of Our Everyday Life
6. Shrinkage
Before season five's penultimate episode, The Hamptons, "shrinkage" was just another word, completely innocent and tame. But George’s pool incident gave it a whole new meaning and tainted it forever.
After Rachel sees him in his birthday suit and laughs out loud, George tries to justify himself by shouting "I was in the pool! There was shrinkage!" Later on, this prompts Elaine to question the meaning of the word, noting how it's usually used to describe "laundry or whatever."
Unlike sponge-worthy, which is a creation straight from Larry David's beautifully weird mind, shrinkage was coined by Peter Mehlman, one of the show's veteran screenwriters. David loved it so much that he couldn't wait to include it in the episode.
It was certainly the correct decision, given how it became one of the greatest testaments to Seinfeld's long-lasting influence. Shrinkage has gone on to develop a life of its own, even appearing in a Budweiser commercial, among many other pop-culture references.