Pub Date : 2021-05-03DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190466763.003.0014
R. Keyes
Although most deliberately coined neologisms disappear without a trace, some durable words have been coined with intent. Linguists call them de novo terms. Such neologisms are typically created by combining existing words and clauses, adding prefixes and suffixes, and adapting terms borrowed from other languages (as when Thomas Huxley turned to Greek for agnostic, Richard Dawkins for meme, and Norbert Wiener for cybernetics). An elite group of neologizers don’t just tap existing terminology to produce new words, they create them from scratch. The results, notable for their scarcity, can be thought of as scratch words. In addition to recoining the chemical term bromide to refer to soporific pronouncements, humorist Gelett Burgess cut blurb and goop from whole cloth. Playwright George S. Kaufman did the same thing when coining widget. Any number of brand names, such as Kodak and nylon were also created from scratch.
虽然大多数有意创造的新词消失得无影无踪，但一些经久不衰的词是有意创造的。语言学家称之为de novo terms。这些新词通常是通过组合现有的单词和从句，添加前缀和后缀，以及改编从其他语言借来的术语而创造出来的(比如托马斯·赫胥黎将不可知论者(agnostic)改为希腊语，理查德·道金斯(Richard Dawkins)将meme改为希腊语，诺伯特·维纳(Norbert Wiener)将控制论改为控制论)。一群精英新学家不只是利用现有的术语来创造新词，而是从零开始创造新词。结果以其稀缺性而著称，可以被认为是草稿词。除了用化学术语“溴”来指代催眠语外，幽默作家格列特·伯吉斯还从整块布上剪下了宣传语和黏液。剧作家乔治·s·考夫曼(George S. Kaufman)在创作widget时也是这么做的。柯达(Kodak)和尼龙布(nylon)等许多品牌也是从零开始创建的。
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Pub Date : 2021-05-03DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190466763.003.0020
R. Keyes
What literate person hasn’t dreamed of creating a word that others adopt, thereby staking their claim to verbal posterity? This is far easier to dream about than do. Creating a neologism is hard. Getting others to adopt it is even harder. A gap in our vocabulary is the best precondition for a successful coinage. We need new words to help us discuss changing circumstances: technology, climate change, pandemics. Even when addressing verbal voids, neologisms must strike a chord, capture a widespread sensibility with a word or phrase, preferably one that’s vivid. Terseness helps, as does alliteration, and use of forceful letters such as b (bubble, bunk), k (ok, knockout), and z (sizzle, Zoom). Anyone who successfully creates new a word and gets it adopted can join Jefferson, Dickens, and Seuss in the annals of successful neology.
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Pub Date : 2021-05-03DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190466763.003.0013
R. Keyes
Words and phrases coined by scholars that become part of the vernacular usually have popular resonance: pecking order, natural selection, meme. Some scholars have coined more than their share of such neologisms. Darwin was a prolific coiner and importer of terms such as cross-fertilize, subgroup, and alfalfa. Darwin’s London neighbor Dr. William Gowers contributed knee-jerk (for the reflexive jerk of a tapped knee). Robert Merton added self-fulfilling prophecy, role model, and focused interview, Abraham Maslow hierarchy of needs and peak experience. In some cases neologisms related to academic discoveries were created by “interpreters”: theory of relativity (Max Planck), focus group (Ernest Dichter), body language (Julius Fast). As with books from the world of popular publishing, some of these new words and phrases appeared in the titles of more scholarly works. They include Bowling Alone, Personal Space, and Holism and Evolution.
{"title":"Ivy-Covered Words","authors":"R. Keyes","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780190466763.003.0013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190466763.003.0013","url":null,"abstract":"Words and phrases coined by scholars that become part of the vernacular usually have popular resonance: pecking order, natural selection, meme. Some scholars have coined more than their share of such neologisms. Darwin was a prolific coiner and importer of terms such as cross-fertilize, subgroup, and alfalfa. Darwin’s London neighbor Dr. William Gowers contributed knee-jerk (for the reflexive jerk of a tapped knee). Robert Merton added self-fulfilling prophecy, role model, and focused interview, Abraham Maslow hierarchy of needs and peak experience. In some cases neologisms related to academic discoveries were created by “interpreters”: theory of relativity (Max Planck), focus group (Ernest Dichter), body language (Julius Fast). As with books from the world of popular publishing, some of these new words and phrases appeared in the titles of more scholarly works. They include Bowling Alone, Personal Space, and Holism and Evolution.\u0000","PeriodicalId":209135,"journal":{"name":"The Hidden History of Coined Words","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-05-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129274354","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-05-03DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190466763.003.0019
R. Keyes
Some who create new words later wish they hadn’t. They experience “coiner’s remorse.” Such penitents include Alan Greenspan (irrational exuberance), Trent Lott (nuclear option), Peter Drucker (profit center), and John Gyakum (bomb cyclone). Coinage regret is felt for a variety of reasons: coiners can develop reservations about their verbal offspring, terms they coined years earlier may no longer reflect their outlook, or the ways others use and misuse it is not to their liking. In that case coinage penitents don’t regret a term they created as much as its usage. As part of the process of semantic change, linguists assume that the meaning of coined words will diversify in ways never intended by their coiner. This is small consolation to those who introduced such terms, however. They’re far more likely to be perturbed than reassured by this inevitable process of definition diffusion.
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Pub Date : 1900-01-01DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190466763.003.0006
R. Keyes
Ever since Horace coined sesquipedalia to mock the over-long words used by pretentious poets, terms meant to taunt have popped up often in the lexicon. A will to disparage can inspire neologisms that are vigorous and clear without being self-conscious. Bureaucracy is based on a French expression created to ridicule government employees who work at “bureaux” (desks). Impressionist was meant to mock members of a school of Parisian painters. Other Gallic terms whose origins were pejorative include silhouette, and guillotine. British neologisms coined to disparage include suffragette, big bang, meritocracy, and lumpectomy. Creating words to insult is a risky business, however. Those who coin a derisive term to give someone’s knuckles a smart rap commonly find that word being taken seriously. As part of the process linguists call “semantic shift,” such coinages lose their derogatory flavor.
{"title":"Taunt Terms: Euro","authors":"R. Keyes","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780190466763.003.0006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190466763.003.0006","url":null,"abstract":"Ever since Horace coined sesquipedalia to mock the over-long words used by pretentious poets, terms meant to taunt have popped up often in the lexicon. A will to disparage can inspire neologisms that are vigorous and clear without being self-conscious. Bureaucracy is based on a French expression created to ridicule government employees who work at “bureaux” (desks). Impressionist was meant to mock members of a school of Parisian painters. Other Gallic terms whose origins were pejorative include silhouette, and guillotine. British neologisms coined to disparage include suffragette, big bang, meritocracy, and lumpectomy. Creating words to insult is a risky business, however. Those who coin a derisive term to give someone’s knuckles a smart rap commonly find that word being taken seriously. As part of the process linguists call “semantic shift,” such coinages lose their derogatory flavor.","PeriodicalId":209135,"journal":{"name":"The Hidden History of Coined Words","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"117096583","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 1900-01-01DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190466763.003.0018
R. Keyes
Pitched battles have long been fought between neology advocates and those who think we have enough words already. Centuries ago language purists such as Daniel Defoe and Jonathan Swift railed against the many new words they thought were defiling the English language. Britons and Americans subsequently squabbled fiercely over Americanisms, the neologisms that settlers began to create soon after they arrived in the New World (e.g., foothill, skunk, eel grass). Jefferson’s coinage belittle raised particular hackles in the mother country. Jefferson – a self- proclaimed “friend to neology” – joined John Adams, Noah Webster and others in defending the coinage-rich American version of English that they thought was integral to establishing a sense of independence from the mother country. Guardians of the King’s English in Great Britain considered this attitude impudent. Protecting their national franchise and sense of ethnic privilege proved to be integral to that guardianship.
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Pub Date : 1900-01-01DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190466763.003.0008
R. Keyes
Cartoons and comic strips have contributed an inordinate number of neologisms to the English lexicon. Many terms we commonly use made their debut in cartoons and comic strips such as Li’l Abner (double whammy), The Timid Soul (milquetoast), and Popeye (goon). The contributions to the vernacular from these sources are due in part to the fact that so many have had longer runs (more than four decades for Li’l Abner alone) than their counterparts in electronic media. In addition, space constraints keep cartoonists from using big words. Active, vivid language is their stock in trade. That terseness, simplicity, and zaniness has appealed to cartoon fans of all ages. During the past century especially, words in comic strips, cartoons, and comic books were among the first ones children read in adult media, and at an impressionable age. Those they assimilated over time became a common part of our discourse.
动画片和连环画为英语词汇带来了大量的新词。我们经常使用的许多术语都是在卡通和连环漫画中首次出现的，比如Li 'l Abner(双重打击)，The胆小的灵魂(懦弱的人)和大力水手(打手)。这些来源对方言的贡献部分是由于这些来源比电子媒体上的同行有更长的运行时间(仅Li 'l Abner就超过40年)。此外，空间的限制使漫画家们不能使用大词。活跃、生动的语言是他们的筹码。这种简洁、简单和滑稽吸引了各个年龄段的卡通迷。特别是在过去的一个世纪里，连环画、卡通和漫画书中的文字是儿童在成人媒体中最先读到的，而且是在一个易受影响的年龄。随着时间的推移，他们所吸收的东西成为我们话语的共同组成部分。
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Pub Date : 1900-01-01DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190466763.003.0004
R. Keyes
Many a new word has been coined in jest. Scientist was conjured as a facetious term for those engaged in scientific research. Indianapolis was a fanciful suggestion for the name of Indiana’s capital. Software was simply a play on hardware among early computer programmers. Whimsical coinage is especially common in the cybersphere where not just software but crowdsource, blog and blogosphere resulted from insider wisecracking. Playfulness is an ill-appreciated source of neologisms in general. The linguist Allen Walker Read cited “jubilance” as a primary motivation for word creation. The widespread adoption of neologisms that originated as bon mots, punch lines, and flippant remarks generally surprise their coiners as much as anyone. This is more true than ever in a world where language is continually fertilized by whimsical bloggers, wisecracking comedians, and sundry quipsters who are less intent on expanding our vocabulary than on being amusing.
{"title":"Just Kidding","authors":"R. Keyes","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780190466763.003.0004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190466763.003.0004","url":null,"abstract":"Many a new word has been coined in jest. Scientist was conjured as a facetious term for those engaged in scientific research. Indianapolis was a fanciful suggestion for the name of Indiana’s capital. Software was simply a play on hardware among early computer programmers. Whimsical coinage is especially common in the cybersphere where not just software but crowdsource, blog and blogosphere resulted from insider wisecracking. Playfulness is an ill-appreciated source of neologisms in general. The linguist Allen Walker Read cited “jubilance” as a primary motivation for word creation. The widespread adoption of neologisms that originated as bon mots, punch lines, and flippant remarks generally surprise their coiners as much as anyone. This is more true than ever in a world where language is continually fertilized by whimsical bloggers, wisecracking comedians, and sundry quipsters who are less intent on expanding our vocabulary than on being amusing.","PeriodicalId":209135,"journal":{"name":"The Hidden History of Coined Words","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121768483","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 1900-01-01DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190466763.003.0007
R. Keyes
More than a few of the many new words coined by exuberant Americans were created as insults. Like their counterparts abroad these terms lost their sting over time and became mainstream terminology. Gerrymander is one. By combining the last syllable of “salamander” with the surname of Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry gerrymander was meant to make fun of the convoluted Congressional districts drawn in 1812 while Gerry was the governor of Massachusetts. Hoosier was used to ridicule backwoods immigrants new to the new state of Indiana, but in time became the official, non-pejorative way to refer to Indianans. Before it became a name for underwear bloomer was introduced to deride American feminists such as Amelia Bloomer who, during the mid-nineteenth century, wore a type of garb that featured loose trousers worn beneath a billowy skirt. Hurling such insults inadvertently added words to the English language.
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Pub Date : 1900-01-01DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190466763.003.0001
R. Keyes
Ever since Horace defended his right to “add a few words to the stock,” and a character in Shakespeare’s 1607 play “Coriolanus” proclaimed “So shall my Lungs Coine words till their decay,” word creation has been a subject of great interest, and controversy as well. What was once considered a dubious practice has become prestigious. “Coined by” is a prized phrase to have before one’s name. The supply of neologisms therefore far outstrips demand. Many are coined, few are chosen. Coined words are like salmon eggs: few hatch, fewer mature, and only a handful make it upstream. The ways in which they are created is surprisingly anarchic, analogous to the chaotic process by which the solar system was born. One might even postulate a Chaos Theory of Word Creation in which usable neologisms pop up unpredictably, strike a chord, then take their place in the verbosphere.
{"title":"Zen and the Art of Word Creation","authors":"R. Keyes","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780190466763.003.0001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190466763.003.0001","url":null,"abstract":"Ever since Horace defended his right to “add a few words to the stock,” and a character in Shakespeare’s 1607 play “Coriolanus” proclaimed “So shall my Lungs Coine words till their decay,” word creation has been a subject of great interest, and controversy as well. What was once considered a dubious practice has become prestigious. “Coined by” is a prized phrase to have before one’s name. The supply of neologisms therefore far outstrips demand. Many are coined, few are chosen. Coined words are like salmon eggs: few hatch, fewer mature, and only a handful make it upstream. The ways in which they are created is surprisingly anarchic, analogous to the chaotic process by which the solar system was born. One might even postulate a Chaos Theory of Word Creation in which usable neologisms pop up unpredictably, strike a chord, then take their place in the verbosphere.","PeriodicalId":209135,"journal":{"name":"The Hidden History of Coined Words","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129292634","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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