8-4Neologisms

What neologisms did Shakespeare create in his writing? //Answer prepared by Sarah L.// Did you know that according to Alec Gill's website “Shakespeare”, Shakespeare used 17,677 different words in all of his plays and 10% had never been used before? I find that very amazing. As many of us know, Shakespeare is famous for his wide and unique vocabulary. While writing his renowned performances, he invented many new words that are still used today. Some basic English words that we don't give second thought about where they came from were actually created by Shakespeare! These are called neologisms. A neologism is a new word, meaning, phrase, or interpretation.

Geoffrey Hughes, author of __A History of English Words__, says,"32 percent of his neologisms have not survived." (Hughes 181). Even so, Shakespeare created around 2,000 neologisms that are still existent. Here are some popular examples used by Americans today from the book __Coined by Shakespeare__, by Jeffry Mcquain and Stanley Malless: //accused// (__Richard the II__)//, design// (__Love's, Labor's, Lost__)//, dialogue// (__A Lover's Complaint__), //gloomy// (__1 Henry VI__), //humor //(Love’s Labor Lost), //hurry// (A Comedy of Errors)//, leap frog// (__Henry V__), //manager// (__Love's Labor's Lost__), //mimic// (__A Midsummer Night’s Dream__)//, questioning// (__As You Like It__)//, retirement// (__1 Henry IV__)//, traditional// (__Richard the III__)//,// and //varied// (__Titus Andronicus__). Some phrases include //all's well that ends well, hit or miss, in a pickle,// and //one fell swoop//. Any of those sound familiar? One of the most famous sayings is //to be, or not to be;// this phrase is from the play __Hamlet__, when the protagonist, Hamlet, is contemplating whether or not he will commit suicide. What I find very interesting is that some of these neologisms are only used once in a performance, and never mentioned in any of his other plays. However, people have adopted them as part of their everyday language!

Shakespeare's words are current in many different categories of life. For example, terms such as //employer, manager, investment,// and //retirement// are ordinarily used. Also, words like //negotiate// and //petition// are used all the time in politics. A few examples of the most familiar words made by Shakespeare are //skim// //milk// and //critic.// However, words like //consanguineous// and //kickshaw// are somewhat unheard of and unused by most people. They are kept in the dictionary, but no one uses them. The words that I have mentioned in this essay are just a few of the many Shakespeare invented out of his own creativity. The next time someone asks you, "do you understand Shakespeare?” say yes! You know more than you think about his words and language. Works Cited