Where do new words come from? - Marcel Danesi

There are over 170,000 words currently in use in the English language. Yet every year, about a thousand new words are added to the Oxford English Dictionary. Where do they come from, and how do they make it into our everyday lives? Marcel Danesi explains how new words enter a language.

Lesson by Marcel Danesi, directed by TOGETHER.

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[gb]

"Where do new words come from?"
Well uhm, when a mommy word and a daddy word reeeally love eachother....

[hugo]

Good video, good tone! To the point, good pacing!

[nyaeamani]

Word creation are one of my favourite aspects amd topics of English Language.

[seanhartnett]

Short answer language evolves. And even English changes, due to dialects and adding new words.

[kellzanddc]

I really like this art style. I'd like to see this in a future episode

[psycho]

What was the first word and who made it and what content did it come from

[minnunazar]

"The word meme itself is a meme" MEMESEPTION

[alexrobson]

The origin of clue is from the old English clewin, meaning ball of yarn. This came to mean the modern sense of 'clue' through the story of the Minotaur, in which a ball of yarn is used to help solve the maze which entraps the titular minotaur. Over time, its meaning spread metaphorically to mean an aid to reach a solution, giving us the modern word 'clue'.

[erikaxel]

"...or never catch on in the first place" FETCH WILL NEVER HAPPEN GRETCHEN

[h-Qalziel]

The word ‘meme’ is autological.
The word ‘autological’ is also autological as it technically defines itself.

[cup_check_official]

judging by the new words like thicc, holycow, how bout dat, dab, city england i'd say the biggest scientists and the most intelligent people are behind these words

[gmmg]

Dawkins invented the Meme, yet he fights the largest meme of all time.

[willarmitage]

Words that should be brought back
into popular use:
Gadzooks!
Dweeb
Yonder
Thither
Chum

Feel free to add your own

[kagome]

In Singapore we live in a multiracial country. We mix English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil together. With our own sentence structure that look like English but isn't. Although most people prefer to call it broken English or singlish.

[omkarparopkari]

Whoa... Richard Dawkins was the first to coin the word 'meme'? Wow!

[DayzO]

I know one important word "Quizzaciously"

[ghostderazgriz]

The word acnestis is so uncommon that my phone thinks it's a mistake.

Acnestis describes section of the backbone between the shoulder blades that an animal cannot reach.

We often apply medication on the acnestis of a cat or dog, but when we talk about humans, it refers to the part of the back that we can't scratch.

It would be cool if this word adopted a new meaning for an itch you can't scratch.

What's your acnestis? My acnestis is reintroducing words into english. It'll probably never happen.

Here's a new word for you.., *neologism.*
It practically means a new word so it's ironic.

[MushroomManToad]

I saw that... "Sky Walker" 2:00

[SChiu-wdbi]

Another good example of changed meanings: *Literally* and *Figuratively*

"I was literally skating on thin ice when the principal came in to talk to me."

"Really? I didn't know you skate."

Okay, I'll see myself out...