25 Words Coined by Twentieth-Century Authors

25 Words Coined by Twentieth-Century Authors 25 Words Coined by Twentieth-Century Authors 25 Words Coined by Twentieth-Century Authors By Mark Nichol This post lists a number of words that were introduced to the English lexicon by novelists and other writers during the twentieth century. 1. beep: Scientist and novelist Arthur C. Clarke came up with this onomatopoeic word for a small, high-pitched signal. 2. blurb: Humorist Gelet Burgess coined this term for a short piece of promotional copy. 3. catch-22: Novelist Joseph Heller named his best-known novel after his term for the concept of a lose-lose predicament. 4. cojones: Novelist Ernest Hemingway borrowed the Spanish word meaning â€Å"testicles† to refer to courage. 5. cyberspace: Novelist William Gibson combined the extant prefix cyber with space to describe an online environment. 6. debunk: Novelist William E. Woodward created this word to describe the concept of disproving fraudulent claims. 7. doublethink: Novelist George Orwell named the concept of having contradictory simultaneous ideas. 8. dreamscape: Poet Sylvia Plath came up with this word for a dreamlike scene. 9. factoid: Novelist Norman Mailer coined this term for an invented fact or a false claim that becomes accepted as fact; by extension, it has also come to refer to a trivial fact. 10. groupthink: Writer William H. Whyte coined this word, which refers to self-deceiving conformity, on the model of doublethink. 11. litterbug: Writer Alice Rush McKeon came up with this term for people who carelessly drop litter. 12. meme: Scientist Richard Dawkins coined this term for behaviors, ideas, or styles passed between people; it is now widely associated with images from popular culture that express a concept. 13. microcomputer: Scientist and novelist Isaac Asimov attached a prefix meaning â€Å"very small† to computer to create a word for a portable computing device. 14. nerd: Writer Dr. Seuss gave no definition for this nonsense word he coined and did not associate it with any of his illustrations, but it came to refer to a socially inept person, especially one with advanced academic or intellectual skills but poor social skills. 15. nymphet: Novelist Vladimir Nabokov came up with this word for a sexually precocious pubescent girl; by extension, it came to apply to an attractive young woman. 16. piehole: Novelist Stephen King introduced this slang for the mouth, with the connotation that someone associated with the word (as when told, â€Å"Shut your piehole†) should use one’s mouth only for eating because the thoughts the person voices with it are not worthwhile for anyone to hear. 17. quark: Scientist Murray Gell-Mann, inspired by writer James Joyce’s use of the word in its existing sense of â€Å"a fermented dairy product resembling cottage cheese,† adopted the spelling of that word for a term he had coined that referred to a type of subatomic particle. 18. robot: The brother of Czech writer Karel ÄÅ'apek suggested that he use robota, Czech for â€Å"forced labor,† as a name for machines that resemble and perform tasks normally carried out by humans; it was translated into English as robot, and Isaac Asimov came up with the noun robotics to refer to the science behind such machines, as well as the adjective robotic. 19. scaredy-cat: Satirist Dorothy Parker came up with this slang word for a timid person. 20. superman: Playwright George Bernard Shaw translated philosopher Friedrich Nietzche’s term ÃÅ"bermensch for the title of his play Man and Superman; the word also applies generically to a person with extraordinary abilities as well as to the superhero of that name. 21. tightwad: Humorist George Ade used this term in a colloquial retelling of fairy tales. 22. tween: Philologist and novelist J. R. R. Tolkien coined this word to describe hobbit adolescence, alluding to the span of life known as the twenties (hobbits came of age in their early thirties), but it later arose independently as a truncation of between to refer to the transitional years between childhood and adolescence. 23. unputdownable: Mystery writer Raymond Chandler came up with this word for a compelling read. 24. whodunit: Book critic Donald Gordon described a mystery novel with this word. 25. workaholic: Psychologist Wayne E. Oates coined this term on the model of alcoholic; although it was not the first -aholic coinage, its popularity inspired many similar constructions. Subsequent posts will list earlier linguistic inventions. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Cost-Effective vs. Cost-EfficientFlier vs. FlyerPunctuation Is Powerful

When to Write a Law School Addendum

When to Write a Law School Addendum In the law school application process, students are usually given the option of whether to submit an addendum to their file. Read on to learn more about what an addendum is, when you should write one, and perhaps most importantly, when you shouldnt. What Is an Addendum? An addendum as it pertains to the law school application process is an extra essay that you may include to help explain a weakness in your file. Law school applicants usually write addendums when there is anything they are concerned will prompt questions for the admissions committee. Â  Proper Form for an Addendum An addendum shouldnt be more than a few paragraphs long and should be labeled as an addendum at the top of the page. The structure of the addendum should be simple: state the topic you want to explain, give the point you want to communicate, and then offer a short explanation. Remember you are submitting this document to address what the admissions committee may see as a weakness, so you dont want to spend an excessive amount of time drawing attention to negative aspects of your file. In the case of the addendum, admissions readers are not looking for an in-depth discussion. Admission readers read a lot in the first place and as stated earlier, going into a detailed explanation of a weakness may draw undesired attention to it. Proper Way to Use an Addendum You should write an addendum if you feel that something in your file needs further explanation- so much so that without such explanation, the admissions committee wouldnt be getting an accurate representation of you. Here are some scenarios for which an addendum would be appropriate:Â   A failing gradeA semester in which you did particularly poorlyGaps in your academic careerAn LSAT score that does not reflect your ability to do law school level workAn overall GPA that does not reflect your ability to do law school workA medical emergency that affected a grade or LSAT scoreA family emergency that affected a grade or LSAT score To elaborate on some of these situations, if your poor LSAT score or semester of school was because of a death in your immediate family, this is a good reason to write an addendum. Also, if you have a low LSAT score but also a history of scoring low on standardized tests and then performing at a high level in school, this is another good reason for an addendum. Still, just because your situation falls into one of these categories, that doesnt necessarily mean you should write an addendum. It is always a good idea to ask your pre-law advisor for advice regarding your specific situation. Read some sample addendums on these and other subjects. Wrong Ways to Use an Addendum Using an addendum to offer excuses for a poor LSAT score or GPA is not a good idea. If it sounds whiny, it probably is. An excuse like you didnt have enough time to prepare for the LSAT because of your college course load, for example, is not a good reason to write an addendum. You especially want to stay away from the concept that you were irresponsible as a college freshman but now youve turned your life around. The admissions committee will be able to see that from your transcripts, so you dont need to waste their time with an addendum spelling it out. Overall, dont feel like you should try to find a reason to write an addendum if a legitimate reason doesnt exist; the admissions committee will see right through your attempt, and you could find yourself on the fast track to the rejection pile.