10 Words You Didn't Know Were Coined by Writers

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Did you know that some of the words we consider "modern" today were actually first coined in the 19th century or earlier? Writers use words as their building blocks to create entire worlds. But certain authors go beyond just storytelling. Some of them have given us not only fascinating stories but also the vocabulary for our daily lives. Today, we're going to reveal 10 words you probably didn't know were first coined by writers!

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Memes are all over the internet and, with cameras everywhere these days, you have to be careful not to become one.

Today, memes are an inexhaustible source of virtual fun. However, the origin of the word "meme" doesn't come from a comedian but from a scientist. Who would have thought?

The term was coined by the British biologist Richard Dawkins (1941), who derived it from the Greek word mimema, meaning "imitated." In his 1976 book, The Selfish Gene, Dawkins introduced the word to draw a parallel between memes and biological genes, emphasizing the way cultural information spreads and evolves.

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Some words are like chameleons, with changing meanings or connotations depending on the context and the way they are used. Back in the day, calling someone "smart" or "intellectual" came with a touch of negativity, giving the word "nerd" some of that tone. Today, however, intelligent people who are enthusiastic about learning are viewed with admiration.

Although the term is now widely used, not many know its origin. The first occurrence of the word "nerd" in print was in the 1950 book If I Ran the Zoo by our beloved Dr. Seuss (1904-1991). That was over 70 years ago! In the story, "nerd" refers to a strange little imaginary animal.

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Long before it was a famous internet search engine, the word "Yahoo" appeared in literature as early as the 18th century. If you consult the dictionary, you'll find a negative definition, as the term describes someone rude, boorish, or even unintelligent.

Back in 1726, Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) introduced the term "Yahoo" in his epic Gulliver's Travels. In the book, Yahoos are brutish creatures that resemble humans in looks, but with extremely unpleasant habits.

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Maybe this isn't a word you use every day, but once you get to know it better, you’ll surely find the occasion to use it.

The English poet John Milton (1608-1674) created this word by combining the Greek pan-, meaning "all," with the Latin daemonium, meaning "evil spirit." It is the name the author gave to the capital of hell in his 1667 book Paradise Lost.

Today, the word is used to describe a chaotic and disorderly crowd or situation.

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Most of us have boiled a couple of eggs at some point in our lives. But let's be honest, we've probably messed it up a few times. The experts—or eggsperts—say the ideal boiling time for perfect hard-boiled eggs is about 12 minutes.

But let's pause all this egg talk before your mouth starts watering.

Metaphorically, "hard-boiled" is also employed to characterize tough and uncompromising personalities. While the term may have historical roots, the Merriam-Webster dictionary states that it was the American writer Mark Twain (1835-1910) who first used it in this figurative sense in 1886, describing emotional toughness.

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Here's a word we use to this day, which has its first written appearance in the 16th century. That's right, more than 500 years ago.

Sir Thomas More (1478 –1535), an English philosopher, lawyer, and statesman, gave us this term in his 1516 work, Utopia. In this text, he describes a society that's practically a wish list of awesome qualities.

Utopia is like a dreamy community where everything is great. The word comes from Ancient Greek, and its literal translation would be "no place," probably a nod to the idea that utopia is so perfect that it's impossible.

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As its name implies, cyberspace is the virtual environment where communication occurs via computer networks. Despite its widespread recognition today, the term made its debut in the 1980s.

Credit for coining the word and its meaning goes to the American-Canadian writer William Gibson (1948), who introduced it in a story published in 1982 and reused it in his 1984 novel, Neuromancer. In this science-fiction narrative set in the future, the author creates a world inhabited by artificial intelligence. Not so far from what we’re experiencing today, right?

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Today, a growing number of people are opting to work from home or, in some cases, adopting a lifestyle known as "digital nomadism," working while traveling around the world.

Despite these new options facilitated by technology, our jobs remain a fundamental part of our lives. For that reason, many people consider themselves "workaholics," those addicted to work.

The term is often credited to psychologist Wayne Oates (1917-1999), who employs it in his book Confessions of a Workaholic (1973). However, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word was seen as early as 1947 in the Toronto Daily Star in Canada.

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Also related to the world of work, the term "freelance" explains its origin very well.

Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) used the word in Ivanhoe, a historical novel of 1820, to characterize a type of medieval warrior whose lance was not pledged to the service of any particular lord.

Although today's "freelancers" don't use lances, they're independent workers who provide their services to different employers.

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Lewis Carroll (1832-1898), the brilliant mind behind Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865), was a creative English writer known for coining portmanteaus, innovative words formed by blending existing ones.

An example of this is the term "chortle," which Carroll introduced in his poem "Jabberwocky" (1871) by combining "chuckle" and "snort." As the name implies, the expression describes a brief and noisy laugh.