8-2Neologisms

What neologisms did Shakespeare create in his writing? //Answer prepared by Andrew K.// BBC describes a neologism as an artificial or invented word created to describe something new. For example, when the self-containing underwater breathing apparatus was invented, we needed a word to describe using it, so scuba diving was invented. It is difficult to estimate the number of words of words that William Shakespeare invented, but many experts, including, members of the Folger Shakespeare Library, credit him with the creation of over 500 words. Some of these words include amazement, lackluster, day’s work (as in the saying “all in a day’s work), countless, useful, fathomless, schoolboy, and fount. According to Charles and Mary Clowden Clarke in A Shakespeare Key, “Shakespeare framed for himself the verb ‘articulate’ (from one of the meanings of the Latin word articulus)(54).” As you can probably tell, these words are frequently used in the English language. He also used hyphens to tie together two new words in order to create a new word. The British Library says that he created new phrases that we often use to today, such as in one fell swoop, love is blind, in my mind’s eye, and it’s Greek to me. The majority of these new words were derived from his plays, especially in the speech of an uneducated or foolish character who made up words. For example, a word in Bottom’s script was probably first used in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This just demonstrates the tremendous impact that Shakespeare had on our language. No other person in English history has ever introduced so many new words. We must thank Shakespeare for everything he has done to improve our language.

More words coined by William Shakespeare: accused, addiction, advertising, aerial, alligator, anchovy, arouse, assassination, auspicious, bandit, baseless, be-all and end-all, bedroom, besmirch, bet, birthplace, blanket, blushing, bump, buzzer, cake, cater, champion, cold-blooded, compromise, courtship, critic, dauntless, dawn, downstairs, deafening, denote, design, dialogue, discontent, disgraceful, dislocate, drug, dwindle, elbow, embrace, employer, engagement, epileptic, equivocal, eventful, excitement, exposure, eyeball, farmhouse, fashionable, film, fixture, flawed, fortune-teller, forward, frugal, generous, gloomy, glow, gnarled, gossip, grovel, gust, high-pitched, hint, humor, hurry, hush, impede, inaudible, instinctively, investment, invulnerable, jaded, jig, Judgment Day, kissing, label, lapse, laughable, launder, leapfrog, lonely, love letter, lower, luggage, majestic, manager, marketable, mimic, misgiving, monumental, mountaineer, negotiate, never-ending, numb, obscene, obsequiously, ode, outbreak, pander, partner, petition, premeditated, puke, puppy dog,quarrelsome, questioning, radiance, rant, reclusive, reinforcement, retirement, rival, sacrificial, sanctimonious, scuffle, secure, shooting star, shudder, skim milk, snail-paced, splitting, stealthy, submerge, swagger, tardiness, torture, traditional, tranquil, unaware, undress, unmitigated, unreal, varied, watchdog, widen, wild-goose chase, worthless, and many other words. To see every known word created by Shakespeare, see __Coined by Shakespeare__ by Jeffrey McQuain and Stanley Malless. Works Cited Clarke, Charles and Mary Clowden, //The Shakespeare Key//. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Company, 1879.

McQuain, Jeffrey, and Stanley Malless. //Coined by Shakespeare//. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, 1998. "Neologisms." h2g2. 26 June 2003. BBC. Accessed14 Apr 2009 .

"Shakespeare." Changing Language. British Library. Accessed19 Mar 2009 

Various members of the Folger Shakespeare Library staff. "Shakespeare FAQs." Discover Shakespeare. Folger Shakespeare Library. Accesssed 23 Mar 2009 .