A neologism is a newly coined word or phrase that has not yet been accepted into mainstream language.
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814 views
When did the term “scientist” overtake usage of the term “natural philosopher”?
The word scientist comes from the Latin scientia, but when did its usage become more prevalent than the term natural philosopher?
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3answers
290 views
Is there a term for French words adopted by the English language, such as “hors d'oeuvres” or “objet d'art”
I would call them "Frenchisms" or some such -ism, but I figured I'd at least ask first. So is there a name for such adopted foreign phrases? Also, how about those adopted from languages other than ...
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3answers
392 views
Creating a new word
If you invent a new word, how do you go about getting this recognised as a real word in dictionaries?
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3answers
1k views
Are there any cases where “prepend” cannot be replaced by “prefix”?
"Prepend" is seeing a fair amount of use, both in programmer jargon and elsewhere.
Its use seems to come from a desire to create a word that is a direct parallel to "append."
However, such a word ...
2
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3answers
174 views
Is Administratium an actual word?
We commonly use this word in office, and the definitions point to its meaning.
But is this an actual word? It's not in the Oxford English Dictionary.
5
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4answers
672 views
Pronunciation of “Wiki”
We were discussing the merits of buying a team collaboration tool (Confluence) today, when we were completely sidetracked by the pronouncation "wiki".
Most of the folks on the team say it's ...
8
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2answers
348 views
Is “tweet” a proper verb now?
So I know that in modern English, the word "google" is considered a proper verb now. Can the same be said for the word "tweet" (i.e. to post a 140-char message to Twitter)?
14
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4answers
21k views
Is there a more common phrase that means “preponed”?
I was aware of this and this stackexchange post discuss the same. There is no prepone in English. Ok, then how do I say Our meeting is preponed in correct way? What is the correct word/phrase for ...
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2answers
531 views
What is the story behind the word “hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia”?
Was someone just trying to be funny by being ironic?
12
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2answers
546 views
If I invent a word, what language is it?
I invented a word using medical terminology, Latin and maybe a bit of Greek. (I'm not honestly sure of the etymology of all the morphemes.) Considering that this word is primarily not of English ...
3
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5answers
652 views
What does the word “cinemaddict” mean?
Please explain to me (non-native speaker) what the word "cinemaddict" means. What synonyms does it have?
10
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3answers
775 views
Origin of “idiocracy”
Did the word "idiocracy" exist prior to the release of the movie of the same title, or is it a neologism coined by its screenwriters?
