Freekin out over the term esoteric first appeared in English in the 1701 History of Philosophy by Thomas Stanley, in his description of the "Auditors of Pythagoras." The Pythagoreans were divided into "exoteric", which were under review, and "esoteric", which had performed well enough to be admitted into the "inner" circle.
I was never one of those exclusive kind of people so I guess I was right! 
