Word coinage

Words and phrases are often created, or "coined," by combining existing words, or by giving words new and unique suffixes and/or prefixes. For example, the word "video" had been used to describe any visual image on a television screen, and "tape" to describe a thin strip; the word "videotape" was invented in 1953 as a combination of these two, named by combining the words for two of its key features. Further, the words "video" and "audio" themselves were not borrowed from the Latin until the twentieth century, when new technology required words to define the two concepts. Words which are combined are often shortened or lengthened, such as "smoke" and "fog" becoming smog (1905). Words coined in such a way are called portmanteaus.

Words can also be created through abbreviation, acronym (such as laser), by intentionally rhyming with existing words, or simply through playing with sounds. It is very rare, however, for a word to enter common use if it does not resemble another word or words in an identifiable way. (In these cases, strange new words succeed because the idea behind them is especially memorable or exciting, such as, again, laser).

Another illustration of coinage is seen in the word dot-com (1994), denoting a company that relies on the Internet for most or all of its business, which arose due to the frequency of businesses including ".com" in their company name. As the Internet became a major market force, it required the creation of an easy term to describe these businesses. This is an easily pinpointed example of how a new idea can quickly become a new word, or neologism, usually based on a void in the then-current language or a need to expedite the expression of an idea which is gaining popularity. New words often enter the language through mass media, the Internet, or through word of mouth—especially, many linguists suspect, by younger people.

Words and phrases can also be created as an attempt to frame a political issue, in order to cause the listener of the word or phrase to interpret the issue as coiner intends. A contemporary example where two phrases have been coined to frame the same issue in opposite ways are "pro-life" and "pro-choice".

Examples of word coinage

• Words created to describe scientific discoveries:
  • black hole (1968)
  • quark (1964)
• Words created to describe inventions:
  • radar (1941)
  • laser (1960)
• Words created to make some kind of political or rhetorical point, perhaps with an eye to the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis:
  • meritocracy (1958)
  • political correctness (1990)
  • sie and hir (neologisms)
  • homophobia (1969)
• Slang terms which evolve from mass media content or are used to describe popular culture phenomena:
  • jumping the shark
  • Baldwin (a good-looking man, such as one of the Baldwin family of actors)
  • Scooby Gang (a group which humorously resembles the teens on the cartoon Scooby-Doo)
• Words are often imported from another language. Typically they are used to express ideas that have no equivalent term in the native language (see loanword):
  • zen (1727)
  • potato (1565)
  • anime (1988)

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see also: neologism