Neologism
A newly coined word or expression, often minted to capture something the existing vocabulary cannot.
A neologism is a new word — either freshly invented or an old word given a decisively new meaning. Successful neologisms fill a gap: 'gaslighting', 'doomscroll', 'meme', and 'robot' all began as coined words that named something the language had not yet learned to see.
Quotation is one of the main engines by which neologisms enter general use. A phrase from a novel, essay, speech, or tweet catches on, is repeated with attribution for a season, and eventually loses the attribution and becomes ordinary language. 'Catch-22' from Joseph Heller and 'doublethink' from George Orwell are textbook cases.
For the careful quoter, the interesting moment is the middle of that life-cycle, when a coined word is still attached to its author. Naming the coiner preserves the intellectual debt and, often, sharpens the meaning: 'gaslighting' is a much more precise term when the reader remembers it comes from the 1944 film.
“Big Brother is watching you.”
Keep reading the glossary
A compressed metaphorical compound — like 'whale-road' for the sea — drawn from Old Norse and Old English verse.
A figure of speech that describes one thing as if it were another.
A short phrase strongly associated with one speaker, character, or campaign.
A short, vivid extract from a longer speech, designed to be repeated by news media.