What do you think?
Rate this book
Authorisms: Words Wrought by Writers
William Shakespeare's written vocabulary consisted of 17,245 words, including hundreds that were coined or popularized by him. Some of the words never went further than their appearance in his plays, but others-like bedazzled , hurry , critical, and anchovy -are essential parts of our standard vocabulary today.
Many other famous and lesser-known writers have contributed to the popular lexicon. According to the Oxford English Dictionary , Sir Walter Scott ranks second to Shakespeare in first uses of words and giving a new and distinct meaning to already existing words ( Free Lances for freelancers). John Milton minted such terms as earthshaking , lovelorn , by hook or crook , and all Hell broke loose , and was responsible for introducing some 630 words.
Gifted lexicographer Paul Dickson deftly sorts through neologisms by Chaucer ( a ha ), Jane Austen ( base ball ), Louisa May Alcott ( co-ed ), Mark Twain ( hard-boiled ), Kurt Vonnegut ( granfalloon ), John le Carrè ( mole ), William Gibson ( cyberspace ), and many others. Presenting stories behind each word and phrase, Dickson enriches our appreciation of the English language in a book as entertaining as it is enlightening.
Many other famous and lesser-known writers have contributed to the popular lexicon. According to the Oxford English Dictionary , Sir Walter Scott ranks second to Shakespeare in first uses of words and giving a new and distinct meaning to already existing words ( Free Lances for freelancers). John Milton minted such terms as earthshaking , lovelorn , by hook or crook , and all Hell broke loose , and was responsible for introducing some 630 words.
Gifted lexicographer Paul Dickson deftly sorts through neologisms by Chaucer ( a ha ), Jane Austen ( base ball ), Louisa May Alcott ( co-ed ), Mark Twain ( hard-boiled ), Kurt Vonnegut ( granfalloon ), John le Carrè ( mole ), William Gibson ( cyberspace ), and many others. Presenting stories behind each word and phrase, Dickson enriches our appreciation of the English language in a book as entertaining as it is enlightening.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2014
4 people are currently reading
182 people want to read
About the author
Paul Dickson
136 books41 followersPaul Dickson is the author of more than 45 nonfiction books and hundreds of magazine articles. Although he has written on a variety of subjects from ice cream to kite flying to electronic warfare, he now concentrates on writing about the American language, baseball and 20th century history.
Dickson, born in Yonkers, NY, graduated from Wesleyan University in 1961 and was honored as a Distinguished Alumnae of that institution in 2001. After graduation, he served in the U.S. Navy and later worked as a reporter for McGraw-Hill Publications.
Since 1968, he has been a full-time freelance writer contributing articles to various magazines and newspapers, including Smithsonian, Esquire, The Nation, Town & Country, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The Washington Post and writing numerous books on a wide range of subjects.
He received a University Fellowship for reporters from the American Political Science Association to do his first book, Think Tanks (1971). For his book, The Electronic Battlefield (1976), about the impact automatic weapons systems have had on modern warfare, he received a grant from the Fund for Investigative Journalism to support his efforts to get certain Pentagon files declassified.
His book The Bonus Army: An American Epic, written with Thomas B. Allen, was published by Walker and Co. on February 1, 2005. It tells the dramatic but largely forgotten story of the approximately 45,000 World War I veterans who marched on Washington in the summer of 1932, at the height of the Great Depression, to demand early payment of a bonus promised them for their wartime service and of how that march eventually changed the course of American history and led to passage of the GI Bill—the lasting legacy of the Bonus Army. A documentary based on the book aired on PBS stations in May 2006 and an option for a feature film based on the book has been sold.
Dickson's most recent baseball book, The Hidden Language of Baseball: How Signs and Sign Stealing Have Influenced the Course of our National Pastime, also by Walker and Co, was first published in May, 2003 and came out in paperback in June, 2005. It follows other works of baseball reference including The Joy of Keeping Score, Baseballs Greatest Quotations, Baseball the Presidents Game and The New Dickson Baseball Dictionary, now in it's second edition. A third edition is currently in the works. The original Dickson Baseball Dictionary was awarded the 1989 Macmillan-SABR Award for Baseball Research.
Sputnik: The Shock of the Century, another Walker book, came out in October, 2001 and was subsequently issued in paperback by Berkeley Books. Like his first book, Think Tanks (1971), and his latest, Sputnik, was born of his first love: investigative journalism. Dickson is working on a feature documentary about Sputnik with acclaimed documentarians David Hoffmanand Kirk Wolfinger.
Two of his older language books, Slang and Label For Locals came out in the fall of 2006 in new and expanded versions.
Dickson is a founding member and former president of Washington Independent Writers and a member of the National Press Club. He is a contributing editor at Washingtonian magazine and a consulting editor at Merriam-Webster, Inc. and is represented by Premier Speakers Bureau, Inc. and the Jonathan Dolger Literary agency.
He currently lives in Garrett Park, Maryland with his wife Nancy who works with him as his first line editor, and financial manager.
Dickson, born in Yonkers, NY, graduated from Wesleyan University in 1961 and was honored as a Distinguished Alumnae of that institution in 2001. After graduation, he served in the U.S. Navy and later worked as a reporter for McGraw-Hill Publications.
Since 1968, he has been a full-time freelance writer contributing articles to various magazines and newspapers, including Smithsonian, Esquire, The Nation, Town & Country, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The Washington Post and writing numerous books on a wide range of subjects.
He received a University Fellowship for reporters from the American Political Science Association to do his first book, Think Tanks (1971). For his book, The Electronic Battlefield (1976), about the impact automatic weapons systems have had on modern warfare, he received a grant from the Fund for Investigative Journalism to support his efforts to get certain Pentagon files declassified.
His book The Bonus Army: An American Epic, written with Thomas B. Allen, was published by Walker and Co. on February 1, 2005. It tells the dramatic but largely forgotten story of the approximately 45,000 World War I veterans who marched on Washington in the summer of 1932, at the height of the Great Depression, to demand early payment of a bonus promised them for their wartime service and of how that march eventually changed the course of American history and led to passage of the GI Bill—the lasting legacy of the Bonus Army. A documentary based on the book aired on PBS stations in May 2006 and an option for a feature film based on the book has been sold.
Dickson's most recent baseball book, The Hidden Language of Baseball: How Signs and Sign Stealing Have Influenced the Course of our National Pastime, also by Walker and Co, was first published in May, 2003 and came out in paperback in June, 2005. It follows other works of baseball reference including The Joy of Keeping Score, Baseballs Greatest Quotations, Baseball the Presidents Game and The New Dickson Baseball Dictionary, now in it's second edition. A third edition is currently in the works. The original Dickson Baseball Dictionary was awarded the 1989 Macmillan-SABR Award for Baseball Research.
Sputnik: The Shock of the Century, another Walker book, came out in October, 2001 and was subsequently issued in paperback by Berkeley Books. Like his first book, Think Tanks (1971), and his latest, Sputnik, was born of his first love: investigative journalism. Dickson is working on a feature documentary about Sputnik with acclaimed documentarians David Hoffmanand Kirk Wolfinger.
Two of his older language books, Slang and Label For Locals came out in the fall of 2006 in new and expanded versions.
Dickson is a founding member and former president of Washington Independent Writers and a member of the National Press Club. He is a contributing editor at Washingtonian magazine and a consulting editor at Merriam-Webster, Inc. and is represented by Premier Speakers Bureau, Inc. and the Jonathan Dolger Literary agency.
He currently lives in Garrett Park, Maryland with his wife Nancy who works with him as his first line editor, and financial manager.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 30, 2014
Rating: 3.8* of five
The Publisher Says: William Shakespeare’s written vocabulary consisted of 17,245 words, including hundreds that were coined or popularized by him. Some of the words never went further than their appearance in his plays, but others—like bedazzled, hurry, critical, and anchovy—are essential parts of our standard vocabulary today.
Many other famous and lesser-known writers have contributed to the popular lexicon. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Sir Walter Scott ranks second to Shakespeare in first uses of words and giving a new and distinct meaning to already existing words (Free Lances for freelancers). John Milton minted such terms as earthshaking, lovelorn, by hook or crook, and all Hell broke loose, and was responsible for introducing some 630 words.
Gifted lexicographer Paul Dickson deftly sorts through neologisms by Chaucer (a ha), Jane Austen (base ball), Louisa May Alcott (co-ed), Mark Twain (hard-boiled), Kurt Vonnegut (granfalloon), John le Carrè (mole), William Gibson (cyberspace), and many others. Presenting stories behind each word and phrase, Dickson enriches our appreciation of the English language in a book as entertaining as it is enlightening.
My Review: The Doubleday UK meme, a book a day for July 2014, is the goad I'm using to get through my snit-based unwritten reviews. Today's prompt, the 28th, is to identify the most endearing villain in a book.
That has me stumped. So I'm ignoring it! Haha, take THAT you silly meme!
Authorisms could, I suppose, be about a villain, if you personify the English language. It's fiendishly difficult to learn, and native speakers are almost to a being woefully (or blissfully, depending on whether you're a teacher or a speaker) ignorant of the rules of proper usage, grammar, syntax, punctuation...you know, the basics.
Whatevs, the book is BIG fun and, being arranged as a dictionary, is set up for easy browsing. Dickson gives a very satisfying cross-section of author-invented words, and with great care distinguishes the nonce words from the lasting contributions to the lexicon. Goalless, for example, is an Emily Dickinson-coined nonce word...one that only appears in reference to her or her work, and hasn't been absorbed into the language...versus babbitt and its kin babbitty et alii, Sinclair Lewis's invaluable eponym for a provincial, boosterish, snobby little nobody with delusions of adequacy.
Dickson himself coined the useful and well-used demonym, personal identifier with a place such as Angeleno or Cockney. I quite enjoyed this word-book, as I do almost all word-books, and I'd recommend it to the more wordophile of my pals.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
The Publisher Says: William Shakespeare’s written vocabulary consisted of 17,245 words, including hundreds that were coined or popularized by him. Some of the words never went further than their appearance in his plays, but others—like bedazzled, hurry, critical, and anchovy—are essential parts of our standard vocabulary today.
Many other famous and lesser-known writers have contributed to the popular lexicon. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Sir Walter Scott ranks second to Shakespeare in first uses of words and giving a new and distinct meaning to already existing words (Free Lances for freelancers). John Milton minted such terms as earthshaking, lovelorn, by hook or crook, and all Hell broke loose, and was responsible for introducing some 630 words.
Gifted lexicographer Paul Dickson deftly sorts through neologisms by Chaucer (a ha), Jane Austen (base ball), Louisa May Alcott (co-ed), Mark Twain (hard-boiled), Kurt Vonnegut (granfalloon), John le Carrè (mole), William Gibson (cyberspace), and many others. Presenting stories behind each word and phrase, Dickson enriches our appreciation of the English language in a book as entertaining as it is enlightening.
My Review: The Doubleday UK meme, a book a day for July 2014, is the goad I'm using to get through my snit-based unwritten reviews. Today's prompt, the 28th, is to identify the most endearing villain in a book.
That has me stumped. So I'm ignoring it! Haha, take THAT you silly meme!
Authorisms could, I suppose, be about a villain, if you personify the English language. It's fiendishly difficult to learn, and native speakers are almost to a being woefully (or blissfully, depending on whether you're a teacher or a speaker) ignorant of the rules of proper usage, grammar, syntax, punctuation...you know, the basics.
Whatevs, the book is BIG fun and, being arranged as a dictionary, is set up for easy browsing. Dickson gives a very satisfying cross-section of author-invented words, and with great care distinguishes the nonce words from the lasting contributions to the lexicon. Goalless, for example, is an Emily Dickinson-coined nonce word...one that only appears in reference to her or her work, and hasn't been absorbed into the language...versus babbitt and its kin babbitty et alii, Sinclair Lewis's invaluable eponym for a provincial, boosterish, snobby little nobody with delusions of adequacy.
Dickson himself coined the useful and well-used demonym, personal identifier with a place such as Angeleno or Cockney. I quite enjoyed this word-book, as I do almost all word-books, and I'd recommend it to the more wordophile of my pals.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
March 2, 2015
All books are full of words, but I really enjoy books that are full of words about words. Paul Dickson has written other books I have enjoyed as well -- this one is a review of the different words that different authors coined and managed to get into circulation. I really enjoyed finding out how recent some of them are.
For example, Oliver Wendell Holmes coined the word "unconscious." Milton coined "the light fantastic" to describe dancing. The first sighting of "T-shirt" is found in F. Scott Fitzgerald. The word "scientist" was coined by the Rev. William Whewell in 1840.
Good stuff.
For example, Oliver Wendell Holmes coined the word "unconscious." Milton coined "the light fantastic" to describe dancing. The first sighting of "T-shirt" is found in F. Scott Fitzgerald. The word "scientist" was coined by the Rev. William Whewell in 1840.
Good stuff.
August 21, 2014
This book is an interesting collection of words and phrases coined by authors. It is a bit dry and best read in small chunks.
July 30, 2018
Following the blog 'Interesting Literature' is proving to be an expensive hobby of mine as the excellent curator of that site, Dr Oliver Tearle, regularly reviews books which are just up my street - and 'Authorisms' was one of them.
Sure enough, on the strength of Oliver's recommendation I went ahead and ordered a copy. Despite being an A to Z, I sat down and read the book from cover to cover. It now sits proudly on my shelf reserved for the ever-expanding collection of 'trivia which I might dip into again' (Subtitle: Stuff to bore people with).
I have a great love of etymologies - a firm teacher-instinct that understanding the origins of a word helps you better understand it's proper meaning - but the origins and reasons for neologisms (the purpose of this book by Paul Dickson) is a close cousin which is perhaps actually more interesting.
Dickson writes with a witty flair which helps of course, but mainly it is the fascinating course of events which he charts which amazes the reader. We learn the origins of words like 'Yahoo' - both as a word and as the search engine company - and whole expressions such as 'wine, women and song' - which, appropriately enough, came from Byron. Of course there's a great deal of material from the Bard but Dickson limits this and goes into considerable discourse about nature of Shakespeare's contributions to the English language; exactly how much was first coined by the playwright and how much was simply the first recorded use?
Thankfully, Dickson's careful selection of Shakespearean quotes means that the book isn't overwhelmed by the stock and gives plenty of room for the many and varied neologisms of the twentieth century, many of which may surprise you. By way of example, I was certainly astounded to discover that 'agnostic', 'bad-mouthed', Blabbermouth' and 'knock, knock, who's there?' are all modern inventions.
I recall long ago a literary friend telling me how disinterested she was over neologisms because you can invent a word to mean anything you wish and it makes the English language a bit pointless to do so. Over the years I've come to realise she was dreadfully wrong. The language is saturated with neologisms - old and new - and is all the better for it! Far from pointless, I'm delighted to find that a wealth of words can be traced to just one person - not unlike many of our commonly accepted rules of grammar. Dickson's book isn't exhaustive, but it gives you a damned good selection to get going with.
For me, I just like knowing where words come from. Not for any great research of academic endeavour; simply because it's quite cool, during a party or dinner or other such social function, to be able to chip in with "Ah! Now I happen to know where that word comes from!" Yes, I know: sad isn't it?
But then I'm the kind of guy who reads books like 'Authorisms' and enjoys every single moment of it.
Sure enough, on the strength of Oliver's recommendation I went ahead and ordered a copy. Despite being an A to Z, I sat down and read the book from cover to cover. It now sits proudly on my shelf reserved for the ever-expanding collection of 'trivia which I might dip into again' (Subtitle: Stuff to bore people with).
I have a great love of etymologies - a firm teacher-instinct that understanding the origins of a word helps you better understand it's proper meaning - but the origins and reasons for neologisms (the purpose of this book by Paul Dickson) is a close cousin which is perhaps actually more interesting.
Dickson writes with a witty flair which helps of course, but mainly it is the fascinating course of events which he charts which amazes the reader. We learn the origins of words like 'Yahoo' - both as a word and as the search engine company - and whole expressions such as 'wine, women and song' - which, appropriately enough, came from Byron. Of course there's a great deal of material from the Bard but Dickson limits this and goes into considerable discourse about nature of Shakespeare's contributions to the English language; exactly how much was first coined by the playwright and how much was simply the first recorded use?
Thankfully, Dickson's careful selection of Shakespearean quotes means that the book isn't overwhelmed by the stock and gives plenty of room for the many and varied neologisms of the twentieth century, many of which may surprise you. By way of example, I was certainly astounded to discover that 'agnostic', 'bad-mouthed', Blabbermouth' and 'knock, knock, who's there?' are all modern inventions.
I recall long ago a literary friend telling me how disinterested she was over neologisms because you can invent a word to mean anything you wish and it makes the English language a bit pointless to do so. Over the years I've come to realise she was dreadfully wrong. The language is saturated with neologisms - old and new - and is all the better for it! Far from pointless, I'm delighted to find that a wealth of words can be traced to just one person - not unlike many of our commonly accepted rules of grammar. Dickson's book isn't exhaustive, but it gives you a damned good selection to get going with.
For me, I just like knowing where words come from. Not for any great research of academic endeavour; simply because it's quite cool, during a party or dinner or other such social function, to be able to chip in with "Ah! Now I happen to know where that word comes from!" Yes, I know: sad isn't it?
But then I'm the kind of guy who reads books like 'Authorisms' and enjoys every single moment of it.
December 15, 2022
If you're the kind of person who has wondered from time to time why English has words in common use like "disgruntled" but doesn't seem to have, or at least not to use, "gruntled," then this book is for you. One of the pleasures for me, aside from finding out where "gruntled" came from, was learning how some words that one might think of as so modern, so late-20th century, are actually much older, some several centuries (e.g., doormat - Charles Dickens, eyesore - Shakespeare, feminist - Alexandre Dumas, freelance - Sir Walter Scott, lackluster - Shakespeare again [who coined hundreds of others], and mental masturbation - Lord Byron, to name a few). Of course, there is the question of coining words or simply being credited for the first to use them in print, but since print is the only evidence one has prior to the 20th century, that question cannot be answered with certainty.
Another delight of this book is its dictionary-like form, which makes it also suitable for restroom reading. Sounds like a win-win.
Another delight of this book is its dictionary-like form, which makes it also suitable for restroom reading. Sounds like a win-win.
May 17, 2020
As a verbivore (first appearing in 1994), I enjoy books about the formation of works and language. While I wish the author had more consistently dated entries and provided definitions, rather than assuming the reader knew the word or slang, I did learn many interesting things, such as
- slam dunk was coined in 1972
- Starbucks comes from Moby Dick (and the founders initially wanted to use Pequot)
- meme was first used in 1976
- Shakespeare coined the verb friending!
Also, Dickson may be the only person to ever refer to Frankenstein as a romance... 🤦🏼♀️
- slam dunk was coined in 1972
- Starbucks comes from Moby Dick (and the founders initially wanted to use Pequot)
- meme was first used in 1976
- Shakespeare coined the verb friending!
Also, Dickson may be the only person to ever refer to Frankenstein as a romance... 🤦🏼♀️
August 24, 2020
There are dictionaries and books of quotations, but this is a collection of a slightly different sort. Paul Dickson has done the research to uncover the source of words and short phrases that have become part of the English language over the past few centuries. The result is a fascinating tour through an alphabetical array of terms that have surprising sources. You will find familiar words alongside some not so familiar, but for all of those collected he provides miniature stories that explain the provenance of the words in question. The result is a delight for anyone who loves the English language.
July 18, 2015
A great account of the many new words that entered into English language, coined by authors, politicians, business persons and scientists. I cannot say I knew many but it certainly gave me the urge to revive some of those now obsolete terms.
June 7, 2014
Quick romp through the literary coinages of yesterday and today ... from Shakespeare to Safire ... entertaining and informative ...
January 13, 2015
A fun and entertaining read, full of fun facts and interesting tidbits.
December 12, 2015
For real word nerds, without flow.
April 30, 2016
Ever wonder where the terms "nerd," "agnostic," and "whodunit" came from originally? Dickson offers information the origin of these terms, all of which were coined by famous authors.
did-not-finish
January 30, 2015I thought this would be interesting, but it's very dry.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews