neologisme

French neologisme was coined in the 1730s from Greek neos ('new') and logos ('word'). The word was initially pejorative — French purists used it to criticize the introduction of unnecessary new vocabulary. The Academie Francaise, guardian of the French language since 1635, has historically viewed neologisms with suspicion. New words were symptoms of linguistic decay.

English borrowed neologism in the 1800s without the French hostility. English, lacking a central language authority, has always been more hospitable to new words. The Oxford English Dictionary adds roughly 1,000 new entries per year. Shakespeare coined roughly 1,700 words (or first recorded them). Neologism in English is normal. In French, it is still slightly transgressive.

Some neologisms survive; most do not. 'Quark' (coined by James Joyce in 1939, adopted by physicist Murray Gell-Mann in 1964) survived. 'Cromulent' (coined by The Simpsons in 1996) survived. 'Embiggen' (same episode) survived and was added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary in 2018. A cartoon word became official English. The gatekeepers lost.

The internet generates neologisms at an unprecedented rate. 'Doomscrolling,' 'ghosting,' 'mansplaining,' 'deepfake' — each names a phenomenon that did not exist (or was not named) a decade ago. The speed of coinage has accelerated. The speed of acceptance has accelerated faster. There is no longer a waiting period between invention and use.