Language in motion

Which very popular word was invented by Charles Dickens? 10 made-up words

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As masters of language, writers sometimes find that their imagination and creativity go far beyond the vocabulary the world has to offer. In order to put their ideas into writing, they have to create new words that eventually become part of the dictionary. Here are 10 terms and expressions used in modern language that you probably didn’t know were invented by famous writers.

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Dr. Seuss’ talent for telling fantastic stories through rhymes is well known. But very few people know that the creator of The Grinch and The Cat in the Hat was also responsible for the existence of the word "nerd."

In his 1950 book, If I Ran the Zoo, a little boy daydreams about what kind of animals he would have if he were in charge of a hypothetical zoo: "a Nerkle, a Nerd and a Seersucker". Although the term described an imaginary being -and the exact origin of a slang word can never be certain- it’s believed it was later adopted by students to refer to anyone with superior intelligence but not many social skills.

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Nowadays, freelance work is very widespread, especially among young people. But did you know that the word "freelancer" originated in the 19th century? The term first appeared in the historical novel Ivanhoe by Scottish novelist, poet, and historian Sir Walter Scott.

In the book, published in 1819 but set in England in the Middle Ages, Scott refers to mercenaries free of all allegiance who offer their services to anyone willing to pay them to fight for any nation. Thus, from the mixture of the words "free" and "lancers" came the term that today is given to those who work independently rather than on a regular salary basis.

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Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the word "pandemonium" as a "wild uproar" or "a chaotic situation". The origin of this word dates back to the 17th century. In 1667, English poet John Milton first used the term to name the capital of hell, home of the main character of his epic poem Paradise Lost.

"Pandemonium" is a combination of the Greek prefix pan-, which means "all", and the Late Latin daemonium, meaning "evil spirit". Although today we no longer use the term to refer to the actual location of Satan and the fallen angels, the word continues to describe an infernal place or situation.

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Nowadays, there is no doubt that the word "cyberspace" refers to the online world of computer networks. While it may seem that the term has been in our language forever, it was actually first used by American-Canadian speculative fiction writer William Ford Gibson in the 1982 short story Burning Chrome.

Two years later, the author expanded the concept in his novel Neuromancer to describe a fictitious computer network containing vast amounts of information that could be exploited for wealth and power. Ring a bell? "Cyberspace" has since become a widely used word in many languages.

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While the feeling of being bored must have existed since ancient times, the word for it was not put into writing until the mid-19th century. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first written record of the word "boredom" appears in Charles Dickens' 1852 novel Bleak House.

However, some historians have found antecedents that predate Dickens use of the term. Lord Byron used "bores" and "bored" in his 1823 epic poem Don Juan. And a few years later, Herman Melville used other variations of the term, like "bore" and "bored to death". While we can’t be sure who wrote the word first, its literary origin is undeniable.

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"Serendipity" is known as a fortuitous and unforeseen finding or discovery, something that happened by chance but still has value. This term was coined in 1754 by British writer Horace Walpole. It derives from a traditional Persian story in which the princes of Serendip turn to chance to find the solution to their problems.

In this case, we can be absolutely sure that "serendipity" is a Walpole creation. The author himself explains how he conceived the term in one of the countless letters he wrote throughout his life. In those letters, we can find evidence that he invented at least 200 words, although most of them aren’t used in modern everyday language.

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In 1920, when he was writing his next work, Czech playwright Karel Čapek desperately needed an original word that could define human-like machines created by a company to fulfill the hard tasks that people no longer wanted to do.

The first name that came to Čapek’s mind was "labori", from the Latin labor, meaning "work". However, his brother Josef was not very convinced and suggested "roboti", inspired by the Czech word robota, meaning "servitude" or "hard work." In 1922, the term "robot" made its way into our language when the play R.U.R. was translated into English.

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Well, maybe he didn’t invent it, but we have Mark Twain to thank for first putting in writing the term "hard-boiled" in relation to human character. As a writer of local color, Twain often used colloquialisms and regionalisms that he heard from other people and, by writing them down, made them familiar to the entire population.

In this sense, while the expression was probably known in some circles, the father of American literature was the first to use it as an adjective meaning "emotionally hardened, devoid of sentimentality".

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Although it comes from ancient Greek, the word "utopia" in its current sense was first used in 1516. Inspired by the New World, English philosopher and author Sir Thomas More imagined a fictional island society where everything worked in harmony.

"Utopia" literally translates as "no place", coming from the Greek οὐ ("not") and τόπος ("place"). The term popularized by More became so widespread that, over time, its meaning changed and is now used not only to refer to a specific place but to describe perfect scenarios or thoughts that are hard to attain.

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One of the most important pieces of English literature is also responsible for the name of a popular social network. We’re talking about The Canterbury Tales, a collection of 24 stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century.

In one of the tales, the English poet coined the onomatopoeia "twitter" to refer to the soft singing of a caged bird crying out for freedom. The neologism was later included by the Oxford Dictionary as a "short burst of inconsequential information". Fast forward to the 21st century, and American Internet entrepreneur Jack Dorsey uses the term to refer to the short, frequent posts on his now-famous platform. That also explains why Twitter’s logo was a bird!

Corporate expressions

Office jargon that annoys everyone: Are you guilty of these?

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Are there workplace expressions that get on your nerves? Many people confess to being exasperated by formal euphemisms that have become classics of office communication. We’ve gathered a few of the most commonly complained-about phrases and the thoughts people have said they provoke in them. Let’s see: Have you been using these expressions?

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Translation: "We are going to have to address this problem sometime soon, but let’s not do it right now." Sometimes it’s a dodge, sometimes procrastination, and sometimes it genuinely postpones an issue until further details are available. Which brings us to the next piece of office jargon…

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Aren’t we all moving parts in the big machines that our jobs have become? This expression is often used to make a project sound complex and dynamic, highlighting everything that needs to fall into place to accomplish a goal. But more often than not, all of those "moving parts" would rather spend more time moving and less time in meetings!

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Ah, yes, nothing says it quite like this expression: "I’m nervous about your ability to handle this project entirely unsupervised, so I will need to check in on your progress soon." Or at least, that’s what a lot of people hear behind it!

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On the surface, it’s a helpful phrase about tackling the easy wins first. But a lot of people agree it has become a bit overused. It’s also not very encouraging when a lot of our tasks are referred to as "low-hanging fruit"!

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This term originated in IT departments, referring to a system’s ability to handle simultaneous tasks. It wasn’t long until the term began being applied to people. Now, workers can be asked if they have the "bandwidth" to take on further responsibilities.

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This line is often regarded as the number-one passive-aggressive interjection. "Per my last email" is the office worker’s battle cry, wielded after someone continues to ignore a request or has overlooked important information already shared. It’s polite on the surface, but you can feel the underlying frustration.

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A favorite for smoothing over mistakes without admitting fault. "Going forward, we’ll make sure the invoices go out on time" translates to: "Oops, we forgot again, but let’s pretend this is a new chapter." It can also appear in the form of a request: "Let’s hope this doesn’t happen again going forward."

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People tend to fear this word. It may be because it often serves as a euphemism for "dynamics that can’t be escaped within this team." Of course, very good teams can develop excellent synergy. But if the term keeps coming up as an impossible standard to reach, it can become frustrating.

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Those are the magic words everyone wants to hear after a long virtual meeting. "Let’s take it offline" sounds like music to tired ears after four hours of awkward Zoom exchanges. It also means: "We’ll deal with this later, at a time when we can both take our sweet time replying to each other."

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This phrase is meant to encourage efficiency, but it often reminds everyone that they’ve been stuck in the same workflow since 2003. It’s the last thing you want to hear if you are an inventive worker with concrete suggestions for new systems that might be better.

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This term can feel vague and impersonal. It refers to people who might be interested in a situation or outcome, but it often sounds inflated. Couldn’t we just say "the people affected" instead?

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It might be intimidating when you are asked to "ideate." Do they mean they want you to think? Why not simply use that word? A clearer alternative would be "come up with ideas" or "brainstorm," another corporate classic.

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This expression originates from the 1950s ad agencies. It means "let’s see what the higher-ups think" or "test the idea before committing." To many, it sounds outdated, overly formal, and somewhat intimidating.