Claim for origin of "Cruisazy"

[Grant Barrett]

On Jan 13, 2006, at 10:44, Jesse Sheidlower wrote:
> Well, it doesn't mean that the claim is "wrong" as such--it's
> perfectly possible that this woman _did_ "coin" _cliterati_ in
> 2000, unaware that others had coined it too, twelve or more
> years earlier.

Well, there we get into the changing meanings of "to coin (a word or
phrase)." The new meaning of the verb, supported by any number of
news articles or blog entries, seems to be "to say, especially in a
noteworthy fashion" and not "to create a unique expression; to
neologize." No doubt the expression "to coin a phrase," tacked on
after things that the speaker knows has been said before, is
influencing this. This is further confused by the roles of coiners
vs. the role of popularizers. Few claimaints of coinages will accept
the latter if they can achieve the former.

Grant Barrett
gbarrett at worldnewyork.org
http://www.doubletongued.org/