The world is always changing with new inventions and cultural shifts. From such changes, new words keep being formed to describe things and situations that usually arise. Given that people are always looking for ways to express ideas and discoveries, we simply invent new words if there is no clear term or phrase to explain what is being put across.
For instance, a word like iGaming was coined in the late 1990s as an umbrella term to describe gambling via the internet when online gambling was just starting to catch on. It could be casino gaming on platforms like GGBet casino, poker, bingo, lotteries, sports betting, or even daily fantasy sports. Provided the activity is considered gambling and is conducted online, it falls under iGaming.
In the English language alone, it is estimated that each year, about 1,000 new words are added to renowned English dictionaries, including the Oxford English Dictionary. One of the most common ways to develop new words (or neologise) is by borrowing and absorbing a word from another language. The creation of new words (neologising) has been going on for centuries, so it is not surprising that about 50% of the over 170,000 English words come from other languages.
Most Popular Neologisms in Today’s World
With the advent of social networks, new neologisms seem to be formed at a much faster rate. Individuals from across the globe exchange messages while ensuring that everyone understands what’s being said. In the process, new words keep popping up. While usage of some neologisms like ‘phablet’ seems to have died out, some are stuck with us. As we speak, some of the most used neologisms right now include:
- Anti-mask or Anti-masker – A person opposed to wearing a face mask during the Coronavirus pandemic.
- Anti-vaxxer – A person opposed to vaccinations and especially a parent who is unwilling to have their children vaccinated.
- Brexit – The United Kingdom’s withdrawal process from the European Union.
- Brexiteer – A person who supports the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union.
- Cancel culture – A modern method of ostracising a person, company, or group by rejecting or boycotting them for committing socially unacceptable practices or voicing unacceptable views.
- Covid-19 – The novel coronavirus that was identified in China in 2019 and later became a global pandemic in 2020, causing acute respiratory illness leading to millions of deaths.
- Digital Nomad – A person that has built their professional career around the digital revolution and can work from anywhere at any time.
- FOMO – Fear of missing out.
- Fomosapien – A person bent on participating in all activities for fear of missing out.
- Influencer – A person (usually a celebrity) who is paid to promote products or services on social media to sway customer opinion in favour of the product.
- Keyworkers – A group of professionals whose services are always needed by the masses (they include health and social workers, teachers, childcare professionals, retail workers, etc.).
- Lockdown – A situation where restrictions are imposed on travel, social interactions, and access to public places.
- Pangender – A person who is neither male nor female (also known as non-binary or gender fluid).
- QAnon – An American far-right unfounded conspiracy theory propagated by a group of anonymous individuals claiming that former US President Trump was at war with a cabal of Satanic pedophiles who would be arrested on a day called ‘the Event’.
- Shero – A female hero.
- Slofies – Slow selfies.
- Smishing – A type of cyber-attack where individuals are tricked into revealing their personal information via text messages.
- Staycation – A vacation where a person does not necessarily travel to another country or town but stays at home while carrying out all the activities that can be conducted on a trip abroad.
- Super-spreader – A person or event responsible for causing several people to be infected by a contagious disease.
- Twinfluencer – Twins (usually identical) who work together as social media influencers.
- WFH – Work from Home.
- Woke – A state of being aware of social discrimination like racism or injustices to minority groups.
- Workcation – A vacation where a person takes their work with them and can still fulfil their work duties.
- Zoom (zooming) – To communicate with someone or participate in a video conference using the Zoom platform.
- Zoombombing – Unwanted intrusion by cyber-bullies or internet trolls on a Zoom video conference.
Language Is an Endless Evolution
Without neologisms, people wouldn’t be able to fully communicate about things as they change or evolve. Even Shakespeare was a master neologiser, giving us nearly 2,000 neologisms that have become part of our everyday communication. Some of them include bedazzled, misquote, cold-blooded, and swagger.
In the past, it was lawyers, scientists, and writers that would most likely come up with neologisms, but today, the sources vary greatly. Whether we come up with completely new words (coining), modify existing ones, recycle long-forgotten words, add relatable endings to verbs or nouns, or import them from a different language, neologisms are a necessary part of language development.
The internet has facilitated the faster spread of neologisms, leading to more words being minted than ever before. So, what other neologisms have you recently bumped into, and what do they mean? Let us know right here in the comments section.