TV Words

[Mark Peters]

This list is a huge help...thanks Jeff. Let me return the favor by plugging your great new book:

  http://www.amazon.com/Brave-New-Words-Dictionary-Science/dp/0195305671/sr=8-1/qid=1165439988/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-1816722-1410413?ie=UTF8&s=books

Jeff Prucher <jprucher at YAHOO.COM> wrote:
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Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Jeff Prucher
Subject: Re: TV Words
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--- Mark Peters wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Mark Peters
> Subject: TV Words
>
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>
> I'm working on a big project about words (not catchphrases) that started on
> TV shows. I'm interested in both successful and unsuccessful words, and I
> already have a boatload of terms from the usual suspects (Seinfeld, Simpsons,
> Buffy, Daily Show, Colbert). I need words from a wider range of old and new
> shows.
>
> Suggestions? I appreciate any leads.
>
> Mark Peters
>

Here's a quick brain-dump of words from science fiction shows of varying
degrees of success:

tardis, dalek, timelord, matrix (in the sense of virtual reality) (Dr. Who)
smeg, smegging, smeggy, smeghead (Red Dwarf)
frell, frelling (Farscape)
frak (Battlestar Galactica, both incarnations)
gorram, shiny (Firefly)
shazbot, nanu-nanu (Mork & Mindy)
doomwatch (this is a bit iffy, since it refers to the title of a show, but
afaik it was never actually used on the show itself)

The Star Trek franchise is a treasure trove, and you may have mined it already;
if not, here are a few off the top of my head (in addition to those already
mentioned upthread):
starfleet
mind-meld
cloaking device
nanite (Next Generation)
Jeffries tube
transporter
holodeck


I would also recommend the book "TV Talk" by Ian Brookes, which covers both
individual words and catchphrases that originated on TV, with a fairly British
slant.

Jeff Prucher

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Editor, BRAVE NEW WORDS: THE OXFORD DICTIONARY OF SCIENCE FICTION
Forthcoming Spring, 2007

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