WORDS MADE BY GREAT WRITERS.
As we have seen, languages while they are living are always growing
and changing. We have seen how new names have been made as time went
on. But many new words besides names are constantly being added to a
language; for just as grown-up people use more words than children,
and educated people use more words than uneducated or less educated
people, so, too, _nations_ use more words as time goes on. Every word
must have been used a first time by some one; but of course it is
impossible to know who were the makers of most words. Even new words
cannot often be traced to their makers. Some one uses a new word, and
others pick it up, and it passes into general use, while everybody has
forgotten who made it.
But one very common way in which people learn to use new words is
through reading the books of great writers. Sometimes these writers
have made new words which their readers have seen to be very good, and
have then begun to use themselves. Sometimes these great writers have
made use of words which, though not new, were very rare, and
immediately these words have become popular and ordinary words.
The first great English poet was Chaucer, and the great English
philologists feel sure that he must have made many new words and made
many rare words common; but it is not easy to say that Chaucer made
any particular word, because we do not know enough of the language
which was in use at that time to say so. One famous phrase of Chaucer
is often quoted now: "after the schole of Stratford-atte-Bowe," which
he used in describing the French spoken by one of the Canterbury
Pilgrims in his great poem. He meant that this was not pure French,
but French spoken in the way and with the peculiar accent used at
Stratford (a part of London near Bow Church). We now often use the
phrase to describe any accent which is not perfect.
But though we do not know for certain which words Chaucer introduced,
we do know that this first great English poet must have introduced
many, especially French words; while Wyclif, the first great English
prose writer, who translated part of the Bible from Latin into
English, must also have given us many new words, especially from the
Latin. The English language never changed so much after the time of
Chaucer and Wyclif as it had done before.
The next really great English poet, Edmund Spenser, who wrote his
wonderful poem, "The Faerie Queene," in the days of Queen Elizabeth,
invented a great many new words. Some of these were seldom or never
used afterwards, but some became ordinary English words. Sometimes his
new words were partly formed out of old words which were no longer
used. The word _elfin_, which became quite a common word, seems to
have been invented by Spenser. He called a boasting knight by the name
_Braggadocio_, and we still use the word _braggadocio_ for vain
boasting. A common expression which we often find used in romantic
tales, and especially in the novels of Sir Walter Scott, _derring-do_,
meaning "adventurous action," was first used by Spenser. He, however,
took it from Chaucer, who had used it as a _verb_, speaking of the
_dorring-do_ (or "daring to do") that belonged to a knight. Spenser
made a mistake in thinking Chaucer had used it as a noun, and used it
so himself, making in this way quite a new and very well-sounding
word.
Another word which Spenser made, and which is still sometimes used,
was _fool-happy_; but other words, like _idlesse_, _dreariment_,
_drowsihead_, are hardly seen outside his poetry. One reason for this
is that Spenser was telling stories of quaint and curious things, and
he used quaint and curious words which would not naturally pass into
ordinary language.
The next great name in English literature, and the greatest name of
all, is Shakespeare. Shakespeare influenced the English language more
than any writer before or since. First of all he made a great many new
words, some very simple and others more elaborate, but all of them so
suitable that they have become a part of the language. Such a common
word as _bump_, which it would be difficult to imagine ourselves
without, is first found in Shakespeare's writings. _Hurry_, which
seems to be the only word to express what it stands for, seems also to
have been made by Shakespeare, and also the common word _dwindle_.
Some other words which Shakespeare made are _lonely_, _orb_ (meaning
"globe"), _illumine_, and _home-keeping_.
Many others might be quoted, but the great influence which Shakespeare
had on the English language was not through the new words he made, but
in the way his expressions and phrases came to be used as ordinary
expressions. Many people are constantly speaking Shakespeare without
knowing it, for the phrases he used were so exactly right and
expressive that they have been repeated ever since, and often, of
course, by people who do not know where they first came from. We can
only mention a few of these phrases, such as "a Daniel come to
judgment," which Shylock says to Portia in the "Merchant of Venice,"
and which is often used now sarcastically. From the same play comes
the expression "pound of flesh," which is now often used to mean what
a person knows to be due to him and is determined to have. "Full of
sound and fury, signifying nothing," "to gild refined gold," "to wear
one's heart upon one's sleeve,"--these and hundreds of other phrases
are known by most people to come from Shakespeare; they are used by
many who do not. They describe so splendidly so many things which are
constantly happening that they seem to be the only or at least the
best way of expressing the meanings they signify.
But not only have hundreds of Shakespeare's own words and phrases
passed into everyday English, but the way in which he turned his
phrases is often imitated. It was Shakespeare who used the phrase to
"out-Herod Herod," and now this is a common form of speech. A
statesman could now quite suitably use the phrase to "out-Asquith
Asquith."
The next great poet after Shakespeare was Milton. He also gave us a
great many new words and phrases, but not nearly so many as
Shakespeare. Still there are a few phrases which are now so common
that many people use them without even knowing that they come from
Milton's writings. Some of these are "the human face divine," "to hide
one's diminished head," "a dim religious light," "the light fantastic
toe." It was Milton who invented the name _pandemonium_ for the home
of the devils, and now people regularly speak of a state of horrible
noise and disorder as "a pandemonium." Many of those who use the
expression have not the slightest idea of where it came from. The few
words which we know were made by Milton are very expressive words. It
was he who invented _anarch_ for the spirit of anarchy or disorder,
and no one has found a better word to express the idea. _Satanic_,
_moon-struck_, _gloom_ (to mean "darkness"), _echoing_, and _bannered_
are some more well-known words invented by Milton.
It is not always the greatest writers who have given us the greatest
number of new words. A great prose writer of the seventeenth century,
Sir Thomas Browne, is looked upon as a classical writer, but his works
are only read by a few, not like the great works of Shakespeare and
Milton. Yet Sir Thomas Browne has given many new words to the English
language. This is partly because he deliberately made many new words.
One book of his gave us several hundreds of these words. The reason
his new words remained in the language was that there was a real need
of them.
Many seventeenth-century writers of plays invented hundreds of new
words, but they tried to invent curious and queer-sounding words, and
very few people liked them. These words never really became part of
the English language. They are "one-man" words, to be found only in
the writings of their inventors. Yet it was one of these fanciful
writers who invented the very useful word _dramatist_ for "a writer of
plays."
But the words made by Sir Thomas Browne were quite different. Such
ordinary words as _medical_, _literary_, and _electricity_ were first
used by him. He made many others too, not quite so common, but words
which later writers and speakers could hardly do without.
Another seventeenth-century writer, John Evelyn, the author of the
famous _Diary_ which has taught us so much about the times in which he
lived, was a great maker of words. Most of his new words were made
from foreign words, and as he was much interested in art and music,
many of his words relate to these things. It was Evelyn who introduced
the word _opera_ into English, and also _outline_, _altitude_,
_monochrome_ ("a painting in one shade"), and _pastel_, besides many
other less common words.
Robert Boyle, a great seventeenth-century writer on science, gave many
new scientific words to the English language. The words _pendulum_ and
_intensity_ were first used by him, and it was he who first used
_fluid_ as a noun.
The poets Dryden and Pope gave us many new words too.
Dr. Johnson, the maker of the first great English dictionary, added
some words to the language. As everybody knows who has read that
famous book, Boswell's _Life of Johnson_, Dr. Johnson was a man who
always said just what he thought, and had no patience with anything
like stupidity. The expression _fiddlededee_, another way of telling a
person that he is talking nonsense, was made by him. _Irascibility_,
which means "tendency to be easily made cross or angry," is also one
of his words, and so are the words _literature_ and _comic_.
The great statesman and political writer, Edmund Burke, was the
inventor of many of our commonest words relating to politics.
_Colonial_, _colonization_, _electioneering_, _diplomacy_,
_financial_, and many other words which are in everyday use now, were
made by him.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century there was a great revival
in English literature, since known as the "Romantic Movement." After
the rather stiff manners and writing of the eighteenth century, people
began to have an enthusiasm for all sorts of old and adventurous
things, and a new love for nature and beauty. Sir Walter Scott was the
great novelist of the movement, and also wrote some fine, stirring
ballads and poems. In these writings, which dealt chiefly with the
adventurous deeds of the Middle Ages, Scott used again many old words
which had been forgotten and fallen out of use. He made them everyday
words again.
The old word _chivalrous_, which had formerly been used to describe
the institutions connected with knighthood, he used in a new way, and
the word has kept this meaning ever since. It has now always the
meaning of courtesy and gentleness towards the weak, but before Sir
Walter Scott used it it had not this meaning at all. Scott also
revived words like _raid_ and _foray_, his novels, of course, being
full of descriptions of fighting on the borders of England and
Scotland. It was this same writer who introduced the Scottish word
_gruesome_ into the language.
Later in the century another Scotsman, Thomas Carlyle, made many new
words which later writers and speakers have used. They are generally
rather forcible and not very dignified words, for Carlyle's writings
were critical of almost everything and everybody, and he seemed to
love rather ugly words, which made the faults he described seem
contemptible or ridiculous. It was he who made the words _croakery_,
_dry-as-dust_, and _grumbly_, and he introduced also the Scottish word
_feckless_, which describes a person who is a terribly bad manager,
careless and disorderly in his affairs, the sort of person whom
Carlyle so much despised.
The great writers of the present time seem to be unwilling to make new
words. The chief word-makers of to-day are the people who talk a new
slang (and of these we shall see something in another chapter), and
the scientific writers, who, as they are constantly making new
discoveries, have to find words to describe them.
Some of the poets of the present day have used new words and phrases,
but they are generally strange words, which no one thinks of using for
himself. The poet John Masefield used the word _waps_ and the phrase
_bee-loud_, which is very expressive, but which we cannot imagine
passing into ordinary speech. Two poets of the Romantic Movement,
Southey and Coleridge, used many new and strange words just in this
way, but these, again, never passed into the ordinary speech of
English people.
One maker of new words in the nineteenth century must not be
forgotten. This was Lewis Carroll, the author of "Alice in Wonderland"
and "Through the Looking-Glass." He made many new and rather queer
words; but they expressed so well the meaning he gave to them that
some of them have become quite common. This writer generally made
these curious words out of two others. The word _galumph_ (which is
now put as an ordinary word in English dictionaries) he made out of
_gallop_ and _triumph_. It means "to go galloping in triumph." Another
of Lewis Carroll's words, _chortle_, is even more used. It also has
the idea of "triumphing," and is generally used to mean "chuckling
(either inwardly or outwardly) in triumph." It was probably made out
of the words _chuckle_ and _snort_.
But great writers have not only added new words and phrases to the
language by inventing them; sometimes the name of a book itself has
taken on a general meaning. Sir Thomas More in the time of Henry VIII.
wrote his famous book, "Utopia," to describe a country in which
everything was done as it should be. _Utopia_ (which means "Nowhere,"
More making the word out of two Greek words, _ou_, "not," and _topos_,
"place") was the name of the ideal state he described, and ever since
such imaginary states where all goes well have been described as
"Utopias."
Then, again, a scene or place in a great book may be so splendidly
described, and interest people so much, that it, too, comes to be used
in a general way. People often use the name _Vanity Fair_ to describe
a frivolous way of life. But the original _Vanity Fair_ was, of
course, one of the places of temptation through which Christian had to
pass on his way to the Heavenly City in John Bunyan's famous book, the
"Pilgrim's Progress." Another of these places was the _Slough of
Despond_, which is now quite generally used to describe a condition of
great discouragement and depression. The adjective _Lilliputian_,
meaning "very small," comes from _Lilliput_, the land of little people
in which Gulliver found himself in Swift's famous book, "Gulliver's
Travels."
Then many common expressions are taken from characters in well-known
books. We often speak of some one's _Man Friday_, meaning a right-hand
man or general helper; but the original Man Friday was, of course, the
savage whom Robinson Crusoe found on his desert island, and who acted
afterwards as his servant.
In describing a person as _quixotic_ we do not necessarily think of
the original Don Quixote in the novel of the great Spanish writer,
Cervantes. Don Quixote was always doing generous but rather foolish
things, and the adjective _quixotic_ now describes this sort of
action. A quite different character, the Jew in Shakespeare's play,
"The Merchant of Venice," has given us the expression "a Shylock."
From Dickens's famous character Mrs. Gamp in "Martin Chuzzlewit," who
always carried a bulgy umbrella, we get the word _gamp_, rather a
vulgar name for "umbrella."
We speak of "a Sherlock Holmes" when we mean to describe some one who
is very quick at finding out things. Sherlock Holmes is the hero of
the famous detective stories of Conan Doyle.
It is a very great testimony to the power of a writer when the names
of persons or places in his books become in this way part of the
English language.