How does a new word appear and be used ?

[crazYgeeK]

Hi, I wonder how a new English word appears and be used commonly. The same problem is how to invent a new English word. Is there any principle to do it?
I have an example for this. The word 'google' would never include the meaning 'search' before the appearance of the powerful search engine 'Google', but now we can say 'google it' instead of 'search it by Google' , is this way of speaking a slang?
Thank you for discussing with me about this problem.

 

[emsr2d2]

Hi, I wonder how a new English word appears and be used commonly. The same problem is how to invent a new English word. Is there any principle to do it?
I have an example for this. The word 'google' would never include the meaning 'search' before the appearance of the powerful search engine 'Google', but now we can say 'google it' instead of 'search it by Google' , is this way of speaking a slang?
Thank you for discussing with me about this problem.

I don't think very many new words are actually "invented" on purpose. With the example of Google, I believe it was simply that it began to be used by more and more people as a shortcut to avoid saying "I'll search for it on Google". They simply said "I'll Google it". Once a word has been used for a while, and by more and more people, it basically falls into everyday usage.

 

[TheParser]

Hi, I wonder how a new English word appears and be used commonly. The same problem is how to invent a new English word. Is there any principle to do it?
I have an example for this. The word 'google' would never include the meaning 'search' before the appearance of the powerful search engine 'Google', but now we can say 'google it' instead of 'search it by Google' , is this way of speaking a slang?
Thank you for discussing with me about this problem.

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

Hello.

(1) You have asked an excellent question.

(2) Yes, you are correct: sometimes words are "coined" (invented).

(a) The only one that I can recall right now (because it is a very

sad word) is "genocide." Because of what happened during World War

II, a gentleman coined that word.

(3) Also, words change their meaning during the centuries. I remember

reading that many years ago, the word "nice" used to mean something

like "bad."

(4) As you know, English has borrowed many words from other languages.

(a) For example, the Spanish have the word "cucaracha." English

speakers found it easier to pronounce it as "cockroach."

(5) I am sure that you can find some good dictionaries in a library (even

online). A big dictionary will tell you where a word came from. I think

many people say that the Oxford English Dictionary will really help you

understand the history of the words we use. A big library should have

copies of the Oxford English Dictionary to study. (It is also online, but I

do not think it is free.) I think that you would very much enjoy reading

that dictionary.

***** Thank you *****