Language in motion

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

Image: Ghinzo

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.

Image: Vika_Glitter

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.

Image: Pixabay

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.

Image: John Martin, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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.

Image: Shahadat Rahman

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.

Image: Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦

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.

Image: McGill Library

"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.

Image: Eric Krull

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.

Image: WikiImages

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".

Image: JCK5D

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.

Image: BoliviaInteligente

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!

Extraordinary plants, trees, and fungi

Think you've seen it all? These plants and organisms will blow your mind

Image: kazuend

Maybe you've mastered growing tomatoes or finally figured out why your geraniums keep dying, and that’s all very well. Still, the botanical world has been keeping some seriously wild secrets from you! Our botanical world is packed with surprises that'll make you want to grab your gardening gloves and explore. These green (and sometimes not-so-green) wonders prove that the most fascinating life forms might just be growing right under our noses.

Image: Earl Wilcox

Selaginella lepidophylla can survive complete dehydration for months, looking absolutely dead as a doornail. But add a little water, and within hours it springs back to vibrant green life, like nature's own magic trick. Native Americans called it the "resurrection plant," and it has amazed desert travelers for centuries. It's basically the ultimate comeback kid of the plant world—making your Monday morning coffee revival look like amateur hour.

Image: Brandon Green

California's bristlecone pines make your grandparents look like spring chickens. The oldest known specimen, nicknamed "Methuselah," has been growing for over 4,850 years. That means it was already a teenager when the pyramids were built! These gnarled survivors thrive in harsh, high-altitude conditions that would make most plants throw in the towel faster than you can say "retirement community."

Image: Janik

The Venus flytrap has reflexes that would make a NASCAR driver jealous. When an insect triggers its tiny hairs twice within 20 seconds, SNAP! The trap closes in just one-tenth of a second. Native to the Carolina bogs, this carnivorous charmer gets its nutrients from bugs instead of soil, proving that sometimes you really do need to think outside the pot.

Image: Igor Omilaev

Over 80 species of fungi light up the forest floor like nature's own Christmas decorations. The foxfire fungus creates an eerie green glow visible on dark nights, helping attract insects for spore dispersal. These bioluminescent beauties have been mystifying forest walkers for centuries.

Image: Freepik

Amorphophallus titanum produces the world's smelliest flower, reeking like rotting meat mixed with dirty gym socks. This aromatic assault attracts carrion beetles and flies from miles away, who become unwitting pollinators as they crawl around looking for the "rotting carcass" that doesn't exist. The bloom can reach 10 feet tall and only flowers every few years, making it the botanical equivalent of a once-in-a-lifetime rock concert—if rock concerts smelled like garbage trucks.

Image: Hikmet

Mimosa pudica, nicknamed the "shy plant," collapses its leaves instantly when touched, as if it's playing dead or having a case of the vapors. This dramatic response happens in seconds and helps protect it from hungry herbivores. It's like having a plant that throws a tantrum every time someone tries to pet it—perfect for those who prefer low-maintenance relationships with their greenery.

Image: Taisia Karaseva

These California giants can live over 3,000 years and grow taller than the Statue of Liberty. The largest, "General Sherman," weighs as much as 10 blue whales and has a trunk so wide that 20 people holding hands couldn't wrap around it. Their bark can be two feet thick—thicker than most apartment walls—and is naturally fire-resistant.

Image: Matteo Grando

Starting as a tiny seed dropped by a bird high in a tree canopy, the strangler fig slowly grows downward, wrapping around its host tree like a very patient python. Over decades, it gradually strangles and kills its host, leaving a hollow center where the original tree once stood. It's like the plant kingdom's version of a hostile takeover, except it takes about 50 years to complete the paperwork.

Image: wirestock

These African icons look like someone planted them upside-down, with their massive trunks and spindly branches resembling roots reaching for the sky. Baobabs can store up to 32,000 gallons of water in their trunks—enough to fill a swimming pool! Some specimens are over 2,000 years old and so huge that people have carved pubs, prisons, and even bus stops inside their hollow trunks.

Image: Olivie Strauss

In Oregon's Blue Mountains, a single honey mushroom (Armillaria ostoyae) spans 2,385 acres underground—larger than 1,600 football fields! This fungal giant is estimated to be between 2,000 and 8,000 years old and mostly lives as an invisible network of root-like threads beneath the soil. It's basically nature's internet, connecting and communicating through the forest floor long before we figured out WiFi.