News0 min ago
Invent a new word.
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What would be the best way to invent a brand new word and have it so widely accepted that it makes it into the dictionary within say, a year or two?
Any ideas?
Incidentally, I heard that the word 'Quiz' is an example of just such an endeavour, but that may be an urban legend..
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In case you have not heard the details of the supposed invention of the word 'quiz', you'll find the story by clicking http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-qui1.htm
That website - run by Michael Quinion, a noted etymologist/lexicographer - dismisses the tale out of hand. So, too, does The Oxford English Dictionary, the 'bible' in such matters. It merely says the origin is obscure.
The reason I've suggested the site, is that the myth as to how 'quiz' supposedly originated certainly seems to be a potential method of achieving what you want. Give it a go!
The real trick is to invent a new word that isn't based on any existing words. One article I read suggested that there are actually very few truely new words. Most 'new' words that make it in to the dictionary are based on one or more existing words. Curiously the example they gave of a true new word was 'strimmer', but isn't this just a variant of trimmer ?
All good answers folks, but I should have put the emphasis on the "having it accepted" part of the question. Making up a new word should really be the easy part. How about something like "Rojintsed"? I made that by randomly tapping the keys (in much the same way as they do in movies while pretending to type proficiently) then modifying the result, removing unlikely letter combinations to produce what might pass as a "real" word.
Getting it out there and into the dictionary is an altogether more difficult proposition! My guess is that applying a meaning to your new word is the key. I'm sure there are many concepts or situations that have no word to describe them. Perhaps that would be a good place to start, what do you think?
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