Can’t Refudiate that Word Invention Is a Popularity Contest

With the recent media frenzy surrounding Sarah Palin’s use of the word — or rather, non-word — “refudiate,” the topic of word invention has again hit the headlines.

How are words invented? Who has the right to invent them? What does it take for a newly-coined word to make the journey from colloquial usage to the pages of Merriam-Webster’s dictionary? A Miami Herald article tackled the topic of word invention and found the answers to some of these questions.

Taking a Word from the Streets to the Dictionary Pages

While Sarah Palin may not be respected as a professional neologist — that is, a person who creates new words — she may well have accidentally stumbled into just that position. The Miami Herald article points out that new words start with the people. In most cases, a new word isn’t simply added to the dictionary by some linguistic professionals; it starts out as a colloquial term, increases in popularity and, once it hits a certain point of common usage, is then added to official dictionaries.

As for how the actual new word is created to start with, the possibilities are endless. For instance, a new word can be created by combing two existing words, like George W. Bush’s “misunderestimate.” This type of word is known as a “portmanteau” because, like an old portmanteau traveling bag, it has two “compartments,” housing two words in one.

Translating can also result in the creation of new words when there is no appropriate equivalent in one language for a term that needs to be translated. At the end of the day, anyone can make up a new word — it’s just a question of whether the word will catch on.

The Internet Factor in Word Invention

The idea that anyone can take part in word invention is truer than ever thanks to the internet. First, the internet itself has created an entire culture that necessitates the creation of new words, like “blogger.” What’s more, since the internet is, more than any other form of media, truly a forum for the people — giving any and every man a voice — anyone can create and disseminate a new word online.

What’s more, given the huge number of internet users, the web can play a big role in helping a word reach the level of common usage that will facilitate its formal entry into a real dictionary. A word like “celebutante” was first used most widely on blogs and is now commonly recognized and used in other media like television and gossip magazines.

The Popularity Contest of Word Invention

Anyone can invent a word, but of course not every new word makes it to the pages of the dictionary.

Ultimately the success of word invention is a linguistic popularity contest. The words that make it to the big-time are the popular ones, those that are most commonly and frequently used by the people. Often these words fill a missing gap in the language, making their adoption necessary.

Simply putting a word in the pages of a dictionary doesn’t mean people are going to start using it. Successful invented words are those that started from the bottom, beginning with colloquial usage and spreading among a society’s individuals.

By the time the word makes it to Merriam-Webster, it usually already will be widely used. Whether “refudiate” will catch on remains to be seen, but there’s no doubt that word invention is controlled by the people on the streets more than the professionals who compile the dictionaries.