Saturday 27 August 2016

Coining words

Daily Draw: Golden Tarot, King Of Coins

I don't remember seeing this King depicted as a writer before. But here he his holding his coin with one hand and gesturing towards his writing tools with the other. 

The verb 'to coin' originally referred to the process of making money. Later it began to denote anything that was made into something new. 

By the sixteenth century, as coining new words became popular, the literary critic George Puttenham grumbled 'Young schollers not halfe well studied… will seeme to coigne fine wordes out of the Latin' 

Good job Shakespeare took no notice...

So shall my Lungs Coine words till their decay


William Shakespeare, 1564-1616




3 comments:

  1. Oh, good laugh, One I saw on a billboard this week in Idaho
    Inspirious Computer speak has released many words to fly free
    You posts prove, nothing is new

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  2. Yep language always being reinvented. Dad used to get cross about it. I told him without that we would still be talking thee and thou if not theeeest and thouest. 🙂

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  3. I've never thought of 'coining words' in relation to this king - thanks for that! Makes me think of all the new words the dictionaries are having to add each year, many originating from 'young schollers.' :D

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