The Lexicographer's Rules

What possible use could a Google Print search result be without something more than a title of a periodical and page number? It’s not a single-edition book. Aviation Digest was published approximately from 1955 to 2002, but Google Print gives no year, volume, or issue number for the search result. Only the slimmest image of the page is shown with a page number, 9. I guess I could look at page nine in every issue, on a world where each day has a thousand hours. The page also says, “for sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. Govt. Print. Off.” but if you go to the US GPO, there’s no record of the publication.

As a search result, it’s almost useless.

(Source Link)

All due respect to E-40 for his skills, but he’s trippin on this: “Creative terminology like ‘pop ya collar,’ ‘it’s all good,’ ‘fo’ shezzy, fo’ shizzle’ and ‘what’s up pimpin’’ all came from E-40.” I know that’s just a Warner Bros. press release, but for years he’s been making claims like this. Give it a rest, dude. I can prove at least two of those weren’t invented by you. I’d bet the other two weren’t, either. (Source Link)

The meaning of “to coin (a word or phrase)” is changing and there’s a clear-cut need for some kind of disambiguation.

The new meaning of the verb, supported by any number of news articles or blog entries, seems to be “to say, especially in a noteworthy fashion” and not the older “to create a unique expression; to say something for the first time ever; to neologize.”

This article claims two fellows coined the word redonkulous, but it’s not clear which meaning of “coined” was intended. Probably the old meaning—that the word was first said, ever, by the two men in question, in which case the reporter is wrong.

A clear-cut case of the old meaning of “coined” is in this article, where the author claims Clarence Williams, the Delta-born pianist and publisher, coined the word “jazz.” Here they are citing Williams himself who made the bold claim that he used the word first, ever, which is so far unsupported by the evidence.

In this article, when Raymond Graves writes, “President Bush coined the word ‘war’ to suit and fuel his desire to attack Saddam Hussein,” it’s clear the new meaning of “coined” is intended, because, of course, the word “war” was not first said, ever, by the president of the United States and nobody sane would think so.

No doubt the expression “to coin a phrase,” tacked on after things that the speaker knows has been said before, is influencing this change in meaning.

In my own writing, I think I’ll disambiguate by using the verb “neologize” when necessary and by avoiding “to coin” altogether.

How can anyone possibly write an article about job-hunting online and not mention Craigslist? It’s no longer the open secret it once was—Alexa says Craigslist is the 34th most-visited web site on the Internet (although Netcraft doesn’t concur)—so how does one explain the omission? Because it’s informal? Because it offers other services? Because the article is little more than a listicle with padding?

“A friend of mine coined prepone—the opposite of postpone.” (Source Link)