Neologist's Dilemma
With 37 plays and 154 sonnets to his name, Shakespeare was a busy man. But his contribution to the world of letters goes even further: he is credited with adding 1,700 words to the English language that are still in use today, not to mention phrases like full circle, strange bedfellows, being in a pickle, or that’s Greek to me.
He may have been the first person to use the word lonely, but when it comes to coining words, he’s hardly alone. Neologisms are always cropping up, born in the fields of science, literature, films and television, branding, jargon, cant, and popular culture.
Neologisms are on my mind this week after reading about Cheugy, and the way it filled a perceived hole in the English lexicon.
Which brings us to our exercise: let’s come up with some new words—in various parts of speech—for situations lacking precise, single words.
(verb) When one car takes up two parking spots.
(verb) The act of moving to a suburb during the pandemic.
(noun) The person you always run into but don’t really know whose name you’ve probably forgotten by now.
(noun) Things you long to do again that you used to hate.
(noun) Marks on the ground, six feet apart.
(adjective) Qualify your Zoom persona.
(adjective) How time felt during lockdown.
This week marks 28 weeks of Lovely Madness. We plan to continue sending out weekly prompts until we reach 50 exercises. At that point, we’re going to take a step back and decide what’s next. So if you were thinking about sharing with your friends or colleagues, now is the time!