Friday, November 28, 2014

Our Ever-Evolving English Language!

Words are constantly entering the English Language.  In fact, the English language owes a great debt to Shakespeare. He invented over 1700 of our common words by changing nouns into verbs, changing verbs into adjectives, connecting words never before used together, adding prefixes and suffixes, and devising words wholly original. Bedroom, bump, fashionable, moonbeam, generous, mimic, bet, advertising, gloomy, majestic, radiance and noiseless are a few examples.

Shakespeare wasn’t the only source of new words entering the English language. In fact, we've adopted words from other languages, such as robot, which was originally a Czech word. Additionally, as we continue to make advances in technology, we create and use new words. Internet, email, and google are popular examples. In 2013, the Oxford English Dictionary added twelve new words. Two of these entries include clunker and geekery.

CHALLENGE: make up a word you think can enter the English language.
(hint: you can use some of the strategies Shakespeare used). 
Give your word a definition and use it a sentence.


You never know, your word could possibly enter the OED one day!

21 comments:

  1. "kerding"
    - defined as the oft-chaotic event of rounding up children onto a school bus or other form of transportation after a field trip or non-school related activity. Usually performed by an educator, field trip coordinator, or some other impatient supervisory adult.
    Etymology: "herding" + "kids" = "kerding"

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  2. "Confuzzled"
    -to be confused and puzzled at the same time.
    Etymology: "confused" + "puzzled" = "confuzzled"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hear this one in class all the time (ala Noah) and I love it!

      Delete
  3. "Strook"
    - Noun: A stack of books; a heap of books; a pile of books
    In a sentence: James had a huge strook in his room.
    Etymology:
    "Stack" + "Books"

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  4. "Hacation"
    - Noun: A vacation during the summer holidays
    "Hacationing"
    - Verb: To go on a vacation during the summer holidays
    In a sentence: I went hacationing for one week!
    Etymology:
    "Heat" + "Vacation"
    (Heat used to describe the temperature of a typical summer in North America)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh the heat! I used to live in a country where all of the vacations were hacations. Oh how I miss it. Nice word!

      Delete
  5. "Harking"
    - Verb: To have a difficult time parking
    In a sentence: Marry was harking during her driving test
    Etymology: "Hard" + "Parking"

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    Replies
    1. Harking is a word Neha. It means to listen. But yes, your definition is obviously different, so I guess it's a homonym.

      Delete
    2. I did not know that harking was a word... wow.

      Delete
  6. "Penber"
    - Noun: A person who can easily find mistakes.
    Sentence: Jane is a penber, that's why I made her edit my work.
    Etymology: Pen (tool that is used to write with) + ber (meaning "asks" in Norwegian [to say something to obtain information or an answer])

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  7. Sharking
    When A shark Barks
    Etymology: Shark+Barking=Sharking

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  8. plocking
    to have a clock in your pocket
    Etymology: Pocket+Clock=Plock

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  9. Nobama Care
    the act to stop obama care
    No+Obama+Care=Nobama Care

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  10. Guable
    to be able to be gullible
    gullible+able=guable

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  11. Bencil
    When a person named Ben, bends a pencil
    Ben+Bend+Pencil=Bencil

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  12. Calriend
    To call a friend
    Call+Friend=Calriend

    ReplyDelete
  13. Dormetbobthebuilder
    When Dora the explorer meets bob the builder
    Dora+met+Bob the Builder=Dormetbobthebuilder

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  14. Bool
    To be bored of school
    Bored+School=Bool

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  15. hateness:
    the measure of how much someone hates something

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  16. commento
    a comment and a momento

    ReplyDelete