Register Log In Wordsmith.org Forums General Topics Miscellany Terrible habit Search Advanced Forum Search Forums Calendar Active Threads

Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread Terrible habit #138288 01/30/05 12:45 AM Joined: Nov 2004 Posts: 95 New Hampshire A AniamL OP journeyman OP AniamL journeyman A Joined: Nov 2004 Posts: 95 New Hampshire I've fully succumbed to my inclination to make up words as I see fit. I know enough Greek and Latin roots to engineer a completely logical word when I can't think of the appropriate terminology. I guess my question is: Is this "literary license" proper? I guess there isn't an established code of conduct concerning use of the English language. The government doesn't require toddlers to sign waivers as they utter their first words. There aren't uniformed agents that jail chronic offenders. But I like to think that we philologists and bibliophiles follow sets of invisible, unwritten rules to remain as coherent as possible. Just my two drachmai. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Terrible habit #138289 01/30/05 03:32 AM Joined: Oct 2000 Posts: 5,400 rego park of troy Carpal Tunnel of troy Carpal Tunnel Joined: Oct 2000 Posts: 5,400 rego park of course you can make up words.. whether they catch on, and join the lexis, is something else.. In our family kids don't scribble-scrabble (oops that should be in tsuwm thread on sing song words) they make toy script. this confused my daughters boyfriend.. he knew my son was a programmer and know some of his perl scripts (shareware that my son has posted) when i spoke of toy script, he wonder for a moment if my granddaughter was some sort of genius.. and writing script already. eventually he realized 'script' =cursive writing i think toy script is a great name for the attempts at writing that kids do.. but the rest of the world has failed to see the wisdom of my term. anyone can make up a word.. its getting the rest of the world to use your word that is the hard part. (oh, and your teachers might red line the word, too) my other obsession Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Terrible habit #138290 01/30/05 03:39 AM Joined: Oct 2001 Posts: 1,385 P plutarch veteran plutarch veteran P Joined: Oct 2001 Posts: 1,385 Is this "literary license" proper? It's not such a "terrible habit" if everyone thinks you're an enfant terrible, AnimiaL. Consider this: an enfant terrible and a neologism both have a flip side which alternates between the sublime and the ridiculous [depending on your point of view]: According to Merriam-Webster, an "enfant terrible" is: a person known for shocking remarks or outrageous behavior, or a usually young and successful person who is strikingly unorthodox, innovative, or avant-garde . And a "neologism" is: a new word, usage, or expression or a meaningless word coined by a psychotic. Is a neologism "proper"? That might depend more on who coins it, than the coinage itself, AnimiaL. But, with your quick wit and your greek and latin tool box, there is a quicker path to riches for you, I think. Instead of creating words, why not create names? Corporate names. That's where the real coinage is. :) Top ten things to look for in a naming company: http://www.ahundredmonkeys.com/ten-things-naming-company.htm Some name branding agencies bill $75,000 - $150,000 to create a single name for a top company, and sometimes a lot more. Does that sound like proper coinage to you, AnimiaL? :) Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------  Information and announcements  Q&A about words  Wordplay and fun  Words and languages in schools  Miscellany  Weekly Themes  Looking for (writers, speakers,... (Old) Weekly themes. (have been... ------  Words from medicine  Beheading words  Meta-words  Words from classical mythology  Animal Safari  Words with unusual etymologies  Eponyms or words derived from p...  Loanwords from German  English as a global language Print Thread Switch to Threaded Mode Show Likes Link Copied to Clipboard View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary Forum Statistics Forums16 Topics13,913 Posts229,334 Members9,182 Most Online3,341 Dec 9th, 2011 Newest Members Ineffable, ddrinnan, TRIALNERRA, befuddledmind, KILL_YOUR_SUV 9,182 Registered Users Who's Online Now 0 members (), 752 guests, and 1 robot. Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod Top Posters(30 Days) wofahulicodoc 33 A C Bowden 17 ddrinnan 1 Top Posters wwh 13,858 Faldage 13,803 Jackie 11,613 wofahulicodoc 10,543 tsuwm 10,542 LukeJavan8 9,916 Buffalo Shrdlu 7,210 AnnaStrophic 6,511 Wordwind 6,296 of troy 5,400

Default Style BlackNTan Drab eBay GooG v2 infopop new dark new light original dark original stock rounded corners Slate snow sunny dropshadow theblues Touch Of Grey UBB.threads UBB.threads - Dark UBB.threads - Light UBBCentral UBBCentral - Crimson UBBCentral - Lime UBBCentral - Marshmallow UBBCentral - Mocha UBBCentral - Zen UBBT77 UBBT77 - Dark ubbthreads ubbthreads-dark Forum Rules · Mark All Read Contact Us · Forum Help · Wordsmith.org