4.4.1: Neologisms

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Neologisms

Neo is the hero, or protagonist, of the Matrix films; his name has a deeper meaning. Neo is Greek for new (it’s also an anagram of one), and combined with the rhetorical term, logos, we get the word neologism: new logic, roughly. There are many ways we add words to our lexicon. By lexicon, if you didn't read the first section of this chapter, I mean the entire vocabulary available to pull from or use in any language: a bank of language. The rough estimate of how many words we have in current usage differs from the total number of words ever incorporated into our language, of course, and old words are constantly being revivified (brought back to life) after having been superannuated (retired), strung with new meanings. Think of the term ghost. In the past millennium, a ghost was only a noun: a person, place, or thing. Now, to ghost is a verb and a noun, depending on how you use it. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the only other action you could perform that involved the word ghost until recently was to ghostwrite, which is when you write for someone or some publication anonymously, or without taking credit--at least at the time of release of whatever you wrote.

How do we make new words?

Words take on new meanings and new words take hold in our popular culture, spread through applications like TikTok, Twitter, Discord, BeReal, or even, yes, games like Roblox, which is apparently where the expression oof! was popularized (Valentine).

Words come to being through specific linguistic strategies. You’ll find a list with examples below.

Back formation (forming a new word by changing the form of an existing one)
- Escalate from escalator
- Litty from lit
Shortening (truncation or abridging)
- Fam
- Bro
Compounding or combining (fusing)
- nightcrawler
- ghostwriter
Stealing or assimilating (taking)
- Cummberbund
- Voodoo
Novel formation (randomness)
- stan
- bling
Initials (acronyms)
- LOL
- CEO
And more (see Rice University Professor Suzanne Kemmer’s webpage on making new words)

The chart below shows some examples of neologisms, acronyms, and expressions assembled from a community of learners at Evergreen Valley College. Notice how there are four blank boxes in the chart below? What would you put in those if tasked with the following:

Activity: Generate Neologisms

Think of a term (word or expression) that is either

a) used as a slang term (or was created) by you or your friend group or someone you follow; OR

b) record four terms you find to be interesting given their spelling, usage, or meaning.

Co-created List of Neologisms
Ghosting	Glhf	flak	clan
Chile	Gg	capping	clean
Trow	kicked	haxor	trolling
Hunky Dory	NPC	patch	wallhack
Glizzy	bug	sry	rank
Play by ear	camper	telefrag	one-shot
Slime	ctf	w00t	lowkey
Dope	easter	gibs	fire
Snatched	exp	lagging	bet
Fetch	ecksdee (XD)	lmao	Yeet
GGEZ	number 2 and number 3	cop	Cringe
Cap	I'm weaaaakkk	Periodt	YOLO
SIMP	Best buds	Dope	Crashy
Hangry	Tope	TBH	I'm shook

Slaps	Gassing	Gap	Boof
HRU	WYD	GOAT	Siiiuuuuuu
purr	yurrrrr	yaaaaass	whaaack

What Words Communities Use Reflects Their Values

You won't find the term pwn in the Merriam-Webster(opens in new window). Well, maybe you will if you know how to search.(opens in new window) You probably have some working familiarity with leetspeak, as Wikipedia(opens in new window) terms it ("Leet"). Another fascinating way our language is evolving with the times is through interactions between societal subcultures, or lifestyle communities, like the gamers and the ravers. Little do they (perhaps) realize, they're changing our language forever!

Additional Reading

Works Cited

Kemmer, Suzanne. "Types of Word Formation Processes." www.ruf.rice.edu/~kemmer/Words/wordtypes.html.

"Leet." Wikipedia, en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Leet#Owned_and_pwned. Accessed 31 Oct. 2022.

Valentine, Rebekah. "Tommy Tallarico, Roblox Come to Agreement Over "Oof" Sound Effect." Games Industry.biz, Gamer Network, 10 Nov. 2020, www.gamesindustry.biz/tommy-tallarico roblox-come-to-agreement-over-oof-sound-effect.