Newords and new spellings By James Robert Watson, PhD New words Our language is constantly evolving, adapting, growing, evolving. Actually, in America, there is no single language. There are regional dialects, ethnic applications, new words introduced daily, and new spellings of words and phrases. Humans have been creating newords since we began writing. Medieval scribes combined letterforms into ligatures and shortened words out of necessity to fit a line or because they were just lazy and seeking an easier and faster way to write. Examples: Good-bye from God be with ye, jeans from Genoa (Italy), til from 'til from until; beware from be aware; ad from ad. (ad with a period) from advertisement. One of my favorites is groj for garage. There is no egg in the eggplant, no ham in the hamburger, and neither pine nor apple in the pineapple. Quicksand takes you down slowly. Boxing rings are square. A guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. If writers write, how come fingers don't fing? If the plural of tooth is teeth, shouldn't the plural of phone booth be phone beeth? If the teacher taught, why didn't the preacher praught. Why do people recite at a play, yet play at a recital? Or park on driveways and drive on parkways? A house can burn up as it burns down. And you fill in a form by filling it out. Developments in technology, procedures, and products sometimes require new ways of thinking and new ways of expression to communicate new or enhanced meanings. These new words help solve communication clutter by clarifying and simplifying existing definitions or introducing definitions for new concepts. Newords can be formed by combining parts of existing words (portmanteau), making an acronym, or inventing a new word (neologism). Newords should be creative: both novel/original and useful/practical. They should solve legitimate communication problems in the American English language and be so clear and such great words that they should be in the dictionary some day. Newords created by Jim Watson gladitude glad + gratitude or attitude. The condition of feeling grateful and happy about life or events in life. (coined in 2007) I was writing in my journal and listing all the things I am glad about in my life. I confused glad with gratitude and out came gladitude. Not a bad word - gladitude. It could even imply a glad attitude. That's okay, too. Gladitude. Stuff for which I am grateful and which makes me glad. goalspirations Setting goals that provide inspiration for growth. (coined in 1999) informagination The feed/retrieve process of design consists of the key words 'information' (input, data, and facts) and 'imagination' (ideas, images, and creative solutions). Information in - imagination out. Link to informagination for more information. (1987) logostrations logo + illustration. Many logos are nothing more than cute illustrations accompanying a unique type treatment. These are characterized by firms that really do not need much consumer identity, they just need some mark that appears to convey professionalism. The public has come to expect a designy style of name in order to feel trust and confidence. So, are logostrations bad? Not necessarily. The graphic design industry should categorize identifying marks. Some are pure logos - they provide a clear identity for a company (Nike, golden arches, etc.) Others are there because a client felt he/she needed or just wanted a logo. Most designers will design a logo for a company whether its needed or not. We prostitute ourselves without accepting the greater consequence of how it impacts the future of the industry and how it keeps feeding the mentality that a business must have a 'designy' mark. (1998) Macrap When you do something because you can, not because you should. Link to macrap for more information. (1990) magalog Catalogs disguised as magazines to entice greater readership and trust in the contents. (1982) neurobics Neurobics (neuron + aerobics) are stretching exercises to increase oxygen and give your brain's neurons more life by experiencing or participating in some new activity, place, or event. Link to neurobics for more information. (1988) OmniSpirit The encompassing name for the mystical spiritual connection humans have with each other and with a greater power. Omni comes from Latin and means all or universal. Spirit comes from Middle English, from Latin spiritus, literally, breath, from spirare to blow or breathe (date:13th century) and means an animating or vital principle held to give life to physical organism; a supernatural being or essence; the immaterial intelligent or sentient part of a person; the activating or essential principle influencing a person 'acted in a spirit of helpfulness'; a special attitude or frame of mind 'the money-making spirit was for a time driven back' - J. A. Froude; the feeling, quality, or disposition characterizing something 'undertaken in a spirit of fun'. prospicuous The opposite of conspicuous. To be conspicuous is to be noticed, to be obvious. Sometimes, however, we want to blend in with the crowd. We strive to be the opposite of conspicuous or prospicuous. "I snuck into the theater and wanted to be prospicuous." retailopolis Retail + metropolis. A large urban town center anchored by shopping malls or centers, big box stores, office buildings, and nearby housing. These retailopolis areas are the new main Streets of America. They spur additional growth and development. spurchase Spur-of-the-moment purchase. Making impulse buying decisions is becoming more common as stores and companies place product temptations near the register, on aisle endcaps, on websites, etc. stopping center Shopping center + stopping. The collection of restaurants, gas stations, convenience stores, and truck stops clustered at Interstate Highway exits, especially in rural areas. (coined in 2007) When I drive to and from Edmond OK and Manhattan NY, I pass numerous Interstate highway interchanges that are full of services for motorists - fuel, food, stores, repairs, motels, amusements, etc. Some of these interchanges are small communities that rely on the traffic stopping for their survival. They are a unique part of the American landscape - created and maintained for the convenience and pleasure of mobile Americans - tourists, business people, and truckers. We need a name for these places. Travel Plaza, Services, Service Center. How about 'Stopping Center'. From Shopping Center but expressing the unique attribute - we stop at these centers to interrupt our journey for a few minutes or overnight to take care of our needs and wants. symblem Symbol + emblem. I'm not sure if this is a better word than either symbol or emblem, but it seems like it should be - it just sounds so right. So for now, it stays on the list. uglification Purposefully transforming a place to make it less attractive or less appealing weblishing web + publishing. The immediacy of this medium changes the way one can publish, and distribute information. (2000) Another great website of newords. Samples of other newords ad - shortened form of advertisement actorvist - a politically involved actor advertorial - advertising editorial anticipointment - anticipation and disappointment (Brian Mays) bafflegab - confusing or unintelligible speech (Wall Street Journal, 1967) blamestorming - sitting around in a group, discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible blandification - when too many Best Buy, McDonald's, Starbucks, etc. move into a nayborhood (Seth Pybas) bit - binary digit brunch - breakfast + lunch bullsheet - an advertising supplement in the newspaper (Sniglet) cheedle - the residue on one's fingertips after eating Cheetos (Sniglet) chortle - chuckle + snort coffice - a coffee shop used as an office (from South Korea) comp - shortened form of comprehensive dramedy - dramatic comedy dymaxion - dynamic maximum tension (Buckminster Fuller) emoticon - emotion icon etarded - unable or unwilling to evolve with new electronic technology generica - features of the American landscape that are exactly the same no matter where one is, such as fast food joints, strip malls, and subdivisions glackett - the noisy ball inside a can of spray paint (Sniglet) guesstimate - guess + estimate (Time magazine) imagineers - imagination engineers (Disney) infoganda - information + propoganda (The New York Times) infomercial - inform + commercial irritainment - entertainment and media spectacles that are annoying but you find yourself unable to stop watching them. Examples: J-Lo and Ben wedding (or not), Michael Jackson trial, OJ car chase laser - light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation MicroSoft - Microcomputer software modem - modulator + demodulator motel - motor + hotel mouse potato - the on-line, wired generation's answer to the couch potato nurspice - a hospice nurse, coined by my brother Bill op art - optical + art (Time magazine) pixel - picture elements politainer - a politician who exploits entertainment (Minneapolis Star Tribune, 2000) remodelation - remodeling + renovation, seen in The New York Times in reference to a sign posted on a storefront scuba - self-contained underwater breathing apparatus sheeple - submissive citizens, followers like sheep (Wall Street Journal, 1984) simulcast - simultaneous + broadcast sitcom - situation comedy smog - smoke + fog (1905, San Francisco) socialite - social + ite suffix (Time magazine) spork - spoon + fork televangelist - television + evangelist (Time magazine) tump - turn it over + dump umbrellactic - the protective sleeve of a compact umbrella (Sniglet) velcro - velour + crochet webcasting or netcasting - web or Internet + broadcasting Some student-created newords Ameriphernalia - All the 'patriotic' crap we see on cars and store windows expotential - exponential + potential - If the power of 2 brains has expotential, and every brain after that increases possibilities expotentially, and we have about 6.5 Gigapeople on spaceship earth, why haven't we excelled expotentially as well? As in "Twogether we have expotential." Submitted by Logan Gant grouple - a group of people, as "There was a large grouple coming towards us with torches aflame." from Julie hilarical - hilarious + hysterical, from Logan nextime - submitted by one of Mitch Baker's third grade students nifto - Mitch Baker, the comic genius, coined the word nifto: from neato and nifty. According to Mitch, "Although they mean the same thing, I've decided to unite them. I tried 'neaty' first, but it didn't go over too well: a fat stripper asked me what I thought of her thighs. 'Neaty', I yelled over the disco music. She slapped me and left before I could pay her for the lap dance (my legs were crushed, so I was gonna shortchange her anyway)." obnoxicon - Those annoying semitransparent icons that television networks feel compelled to place in the corner of the screen to remind you what you're watching. trendscendent - will last over time and not be dated to one trend: from trend and transcendent. Developed during a discussion by Graphic Design 2 students, spring 2008, about the word 'timeless' and how it didn't accurately convey one of the criteria that successful logos should meet. acrosters - mispronouncers: acrost, akrit, athalete advapparel - advertising apparel blozero - below zero chiver - chill + shiver chizzly - chilly + drizzly glooze - glue + ooze graffaxi - unsolicitied comments on a facsimile machine greige - grey + beige, generic corporate office cubicle color innostander - innocent bystander jeat? - did you eat? mepya? - may I help you? muggid - muggy + humid nagagator - back seat map reader nucwaste - nuclear waste ozopletion - ozone depletion salper - salt and pepper sellebrity - athlete or media star in an ad or TV commercial sheeple - sheep peolpe, blind faith followers skoodle - sketch + doodle sneet - snow + sleet soshno - social security number sprainting - spray painting squeat - let's go eat sup? - what is new and eventful in your life? New spellings Ghoti = fish It really does spell 'fish' - here's how: f as in laugh, i as in women, and sh as in action = fish. This bizarre, yet accurate, spelling is attributed to George bernard Shaw, the playwright. More examples: say, they, and weigh rhyme, but bomb, comb, and tomb do not. Form and worm. Okay, then farm and warm. Look how many ways there are to pronounce 'ough': m bought, cough, through, dough, bough, and tough. Maybe it ought to just be: m bawt, coff, thru, doe, bow (not bo), and tuff. While we're at it, how about rite for right (left and rite), wate for weight, and nite for night? m Laugh = laff, but night is not nift. m Laughter = laffter but add an s: slaughter = slawter. How silly. m Is a tree pronounced like tree or like chree? Drink or jrink? If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down and in which you fill in a form by filling it out. Why doesn't 'Buick' rhyme with 'quick' ? English is tough enough (tuff enuf?) to learn and remember as it is, lets agree to improve its simplicity and ease of comprehension. Most of the awkward words have their unique spelling origins in old languages and archaic pronunciations. We no longer spell Ye Olde Shoppe or thee. Pronunciation, vocabulary, and idioms are always evolving. Why don't we just start spelling words the way they ought to be spelled? From Marilyn vos Savant, Parade magazine: Theodore Roosevelt (an admittedly poor speller) tried to reform spelling in 1906. He thot colour with the extra u was downright silly. He issued a directive to the government Printing Office to adopt 300 reformed spellings. Despite many notable proponents, Congress overturned the directive. Despite that, about this time, honour became honor and centre became center. Several years ago, I saw the name, Groj Sale somewhere and thought it was brilliant. The Garage Sale name is not quite accurate. I remember as a young kid seeing a sign in the naberhood and wondering why someone would sell their garage. Seemed weird. My mom explained it to me. So, a new name that represents the sound of the word garage makes some sense - a new word for the phrase that is already in our cultural vernacular. Garage means a car storage building, Groj Sale is a rummage/yard/garage sale. Wensday   Okay, lets admit it. Wednesday is a silly way to spell what we all say as Wensday. Wensday is also more consistent with the clarity of spelling pronunciation of the other days of the week. Febuary   Ditto for this month. Lets just spell it the way we say it. Enuf said. probly   If you listen closely, most people just say 'probly' as in 'I'll probly go to the prom'. tempature   for temperature (from Frank Cissne), the way we say it. breviation and breviated   Abbreviation is just too long a word for its meaning. Brevity and brief start with br, so lets just drop the useless ab to leave breviation. Now the word is at least a bit breviated. naberhood   Just what is a neigh, anyway? New Yorkers use the abbreviation 'nabe'. skedule   The English pronounce schedule with an 'sh'. Americans say skedule. Let's spell it that way. fasinating   Not faskinating (fascinating). The redundant s & c letter sounds are unnecessary. morgage   Who says mort-gage? tuff   for tough enuf   for enough rite   for right: left and rite, rite and rong wate   for weight nite   for night laff   for laff, laffter   for laughter foto   for photo, What's with this PH = F ? wich   for which, we don't spell sandwhich sine   for sign (si-g-n?) Although I'm not sure about design sorta   for sort of, as in it was sorta cold. I'm not sure what 'sort of cold' means, anyway. kinda   for kind of. See sorta. BTW: Have you noticed how many people say Okloma for Oklahoma. Notice the next time you watch the news or weather or listen to friends in conversation, how many just say what sounds like Okloma. Home • Email Jim Watson • Filename to share: http://www.jamesrobertwatson.com/newords.html