A History of Short Words

From the New York Times Crossword Puzzle

NOSIR

Sun, 7 Jul '24
Polite denial
Tue, 29 Aug '23
Formal denial
Thu, 20 Apr '23
Polite refusal
Sun, 12 Feb '23
Navy nay
Sun, 17 Jul '22
Polite refusal
Sun, 15 May '22
Naval "Negative"
Sun, 12 Dec '21
Polite rejection
Fri, 23 Apr '21
Decline in military activity?