[Ads-l] Made up words

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

15 words invented by authors, OxfordWords blog
http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/02/invented-words/

[Begin excerpt]
Inventors’ Day is typically celebrated in honour of all the great
minds past and present that have come up with a process or thing that
helped make our everyday lives easier. But what about those inventors
of words that have enriched our lexicon with their language? Let’s
take a look at fifteen authors, and the words they coined:
[End excerpt]

1. Superman
2. Blatant
3. Witticism
4. Robot
5. Cyberspace
6. Serendipity
7. Droog
8. Intensify
9. Sensuous
10. Eucatastrophe
11. Doublethink
12. Blurb
13. Chortle
14. Cloud cuckoo land
15. Tattarrattat

The article notes that the last word is the longest palindromic
headword in the OED.

Bill mentioned the following viewpoint about the OED: "It's fairly
unusual for a made-up word to get in."

I suspect that this remark was narrowly referring to words created by
authors and placed into books. In a larger sense all words are made-up
even the onomatopoetic. Yet, it is difficult to determine who was
responsible for creating a specific word. Also, the pronunciation,
spelling, and meaning all evolve.

On Mon, Apr 17, 2017 at 1:58 PM, MULLINS, WILLIAM D (Bill) CIV USARMY
RDECOM AMRDEC (US) <william.d.mullins18.civ at mail.mil> wrote:
> A forum I read noted this article:
>
> http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/quidditch-potterhead-could-make-their-way-into-oxford-english-dictionary-1616972
>
> and commented on OED editor Charlotte Buxton's statement " It's fairly unusual for a made-up word to get in."
>
> Strictly speaking, I suppose this is true.  But it does happen:
>
> Kryptonite
> Jabberwocky
> Unobtanium
> Jeep
> Vulcan (in the sense referring to Spock)
> Lilliput, Lilliputian
> Brobdingnag, Brobdingnagian
> Oz
> Xanadu
> Shangri La
> Carbonite (Star Wars sense)
> Impervium (from Buck Rogers)
> Widget
>
>
> Can you suggest others?
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org