Have You Coined A Word Today?

 

 

It seems like every year we get new words placed into the dictionary. We even get new dictionaries to sprout up every so often.  

Take Dictionary.com. It certainly did not exist before the advent of the Internet. Many people did not accept it upon its inception, instead forcing established institutions such as Merriam – Webster’s Dictionary or Oxford English Dictionary.  

Now, in a sign of the times the online dictionary leads the way in quickly adopting many new words into the lexicon of the English language. 

Entries last year included: 

·         Blamestorm – the process of blaming others

·         Misper – a missing person

·         Deplatform – prohibit sharing content on a platform; to cancel or censure

·         Asynchronous – happens on its own, not simultaneous with others

·         Minoritize – subordinating a group

·         Yeet – enthusiasm; exuberance

·         Shitshow – a real mess

·         Traphouse – a place where illicit drugs are bought or used 

Some of this feels like a fad. Words will pop up and perhaps fade away in a generation or two – if not sooner. But if segments of the population use these terms, we should acknowledge them and understand them. Otherwise, we won’t be speaking the same language. 

Technology, politics, healthcare, foreign language, and cultural experiences redefine our language in American. The pace of words being born or becomes extinct is increasing, perhaps in proportion to the changes in the world. After all, new events, views, and steps demand new words to label, describe, and identify them. Just as we name new kids, we must name new objects, skills, and styles. Life is not stagnant. Neither are words or the English language.  

I recently enjoyed reading The Hidden History of Coined Words, by Ralph Keyes. The author shows how words are minted and what people can do if they want to gain fame for coining a term. 

Keyes says the key to word-coining comes down to this: 

·         Creating a short word to say a lot – spam.

·         Make the words playful – zig-zag

·         Please the ear with alliteration – road range

·         Create word pictures that stir vivid images – nig bang

·         Evoke feelings – buzzword

·         Use good letters – b, g, k, and z punch above their weight in the word survival wars.

·         The best new words don’t necessarily sound new – brunch

·         Versatility – multiple ways of usage for one word help the odds of word renewal

·         There’s a need – the word fills a gap and describes something that exists but had no name

·         Many words come from the combining of two existing words

·         A lot of English words come from foreign languages

·         Metaphorical terms like helicopter parents, which combine allusion with clarity and imagery do well 

There are diverse sources for words to get coined, including: 

·         Different cultures

·         Newspapers and magazines, films, music, and pop-culture

·         Sports

·         Weather

·         Science and technology

·         Children’s books

·         Food and cooking

·         Blogs, podcasts, and social media 

Some neologisms don’t exactly stick around, going as fast as they had arrived. Language can be trendy, but only to a certain degree. Above all else, it must be functional and useful. We can’t just make up shit to suit the moment or to appeal to only a few who are in the know. Perhaps that is why a term like fang-banging (sex with a vampire) won’t last too long. 

Some words come into the lexicon accidentally. Some words become popular when mispronounced. Some may represent inside jokes. Others result from typos, misspellings, or mistranslations. Even mishearing a word can spawn a new one. One rich area for new words come from literary lingo – novels and children’s books that explore fantasies and wild imaginations. 

Did you know the word “nerd” is a Seussism? 

Keya writes: “Unlike so many neologizers, Geisel didn't just adapt existing terms, cobble clauses together, or borrow roots from other languages. He cut new words from whole cloth. In doing so, Dr. Seuss paid careful attention to the sound of these words, realizing how important this was to members of his young audience and the adults who read to them. In the process he contributed more than his share of neologisms to our language. Nerd is the most successful one. Grinch isn't far behind, as well as Lorax, the prototypical quixotic environmentalist.”

He also shared these insights: 

The hidden history of coined words. 

“This history revealed how many terms in our language have been coined whimsically, to taunt, even to prank. More than a few weren't even coined inten-tionally; they resulted from happy accidents. Neologizers themselves come from diverse quarters. They include not just learned scholars and literary lions but car-toonists, columnists, children's authors, and children as well. Neologize itself was one of Thomas Jefferson's many invented words, ones for which he was sternly reprimanded by language guardians in the home country. 

“The history of word coinage is filled with fierce battles that have pitted word coiners against language purists who think we have more than enough perfectly good words already (and if we did need more, they should be provided by the proper authorities).”. 

Word adoption.

“From his perch as chair of the American Dialect Society's new words commit-tee, Ben Zimmer has had an unrivaled opportunity to assess the traits that help a neologism survive, and those that don't. In particular, says Zimmer, a new word's prospects of survival is undercut by being "too self-consciously clever, too ephem-erally trendy, too difficult to say or spell, or too restricted to a particular niche or subculture." As far as what does help a word win favor, Allan Metcalf, the longtime ADS secretary and the author of Predicting New Words, cites frequency of use, diversity of users, and, especially, unobtrusiveness.“ 

You too, can coin a word.

“WHAT LITERATE PERSON hasn't dreamed of creating a word that would join the lexicon and stake their claim to posterity? Put somewhat differently, who has never enjoyed a pleasant fantasy of seeing the phrase "coined by" preceding their name? Converting this fantasy into reality is a tough go, however. Creating a neologism is hard. Getting others to adopt it is even harder.“ 

The Hidden History of Coined Words is, as its front cover flap says: “An eye-opening exploration of neologisms and their wellsprings, illuminating the dynamic nature of language itself.” 

Will you coin a word? Will it last? Will you create a Faustian bargain or a Catcvh-22? Will yo create as Orwellian world or a Rockwellian one? Not everyone can get their Shakespeare on. But you don’t have to be a nerd to invent new worlds and the words that would be spoken in them.

"All warfare is based on deception."

--Sun Tzu 

"Goin' in one more round when you don't think you can -- that's what makes all the difference in your life."

--Rocky Balboa 

"Artists do not own the meaning of their work."

--Roberta Smith 

"Imagination is more important than knowledge."

--Albert Einstein 

"I write to discover what I know."

--Flannery O'Connor 

"Be the change you wish to see in the world."

--Mahatma Gandhi 

"Most people do not listen with the intent to understand they listen with the intent to reply."

--Stephen Covey

"No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world." 

— Robin Williams  

“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” 

—Winston Churchill  

"The public will believe anything, so long as it is not founded on truth."

—Edith Sitwell, British Poet

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About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over four million pageviews. With 5,000+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2025.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully).

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

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