Neologisms in Modern English language

Max has been an abbreviated colloquial form of maximum since the middle of the nineteenth century, and it seems occasionally to have been used as a verb at that time.

Push the envelope /p℧ʃ ði 'εnvǝlǝ℧p/ verbal phrase

To go beyond established limits; to do something new, to pioneer.

A phrase which probably derives from the aeronautical and aerospace industries, in which the envelope is the boundary line on a graph representing an aircraft’s capabilities. Push the envelope has been used since the late seventies as a mode of expression that covers both the extension of scientific and technical knowledge, and the breaching of accepted limits of toleration. A person who pushes the envelope, deliberately or inadvertently, is one who is going beyond the known limits, with the risk that this entails.

Slaughter /'slɔ: tǝ/ transitive verb

  To criticize with great severity.

A figurative use of the sense ʻto kill in a ruthless manner or on a great scale’; perhaps also coloured by an earlier figurative use, ʻto defeat utterly’.

In the nineties this sense of slaughter has gained some currency. The notion is one of making a severe and stringent criticism of a person or organization in response to the perceived infraction of some standard or rule; there is often also an implication that the severity of treatment of the offender may include the imposition of penalties. A person who has been slaughtered is one who has been subjected to so comprehensive a criticism as to be effectively defenceless against it.

Spazz out /'spaz a℧t/ verbal phrase

  To lose physical or emotional control, to be overcome. Also, to display symptoms of this. Probably formed as an alteration of space out, influenced by spaz as a slang abbreviation for spastic, or spasm. Spazz out is recorded from the mid eighties as a term for losing physical or emotional control, especially as the result of an intense emotional experience. To be spazzed out is to be overcome. 

Tag /tag/ noun and verb

In HIP-HOP culture:

Transitive verb: to decorate with graffiti; to leave in a public place.A figurative use of tag in the sense of label.

Trawl /trɔ: l/ intransitive or transitive verb

Make an exhaustive and sometimes indiscriminate search for(a person or thing) within a defined area. A figurative use of trawl in the sense ʻfish with a trawl or seine’; a noun trawl in the sense of ʻan act of searching thoroughly for something’ has existed since the early seventies.

People & Society:

Empower /im 'pa℧ǝ/ transitive verb

Give power to, make able to do something.

While empower in the sense give power to is recorded from the seventeenth century, it has in recent times developed an extension of meaning. Since the seventies, the questioning of the traditional values of Western culture has been accompanied by a growing perception that the acceptance of such values effectively restricts or deprives groups or individuals who do not conform to who is recognized as the dominant tradition.

Empowerment is increasingly seen as a strategy for liberation and restoration, whereby a person may both be freed from the restraints of an imposed tradition, and given back the ability to act independently. In this context, the empowering process is seen as one which allows the envelopment of full potential, and in so doing opens up new horizons. A person who is self-empowered is thus one whose ability to act independently is not governed by acceptance of an external set of values. 

Ram-raid /'ramreid/ verb and noun Also written ramraid, ram raid

Transitive verb: to break into premises, especially for the purpose of robbery, by ramming a vehicle through a window or wall.

The term ram-raid entered the language in the late eighties and soon became a familiar name in the UK for this motorized form of smash-and-grap. In such a crime the vehicle, usually a heavy van, doubles as a battering ram and as a conveyance for the loot, which is then driven away at great speed by the ram-raiders. Ram-raiding has sometimes been carried out not for the purpose of theft but as an act of aggression against establishments, such as nighclubs, from which the perpetrators have been debarred. There is evidence too of the term being extended to include transferred and figurative uses, denoting the acquisition of an object or an idea with the implication of a lack of finesse.

Reskill / ri: 'skil/ transitive verb Also written re-skill

To retrain (workers) in the skills required by a modern business.

The verb reskill and the verbal noun reskilling entered the language in the early eighties as synonyms for retrain and retraining, but ones used in the particular context of the business and industrial worlds of the late twentieth century. Those in work may be reskilled in new procedures, for example in technology, in management, or on the shop floor, while the unemployed may be offered reskilling in preparation for a return to work. Reskilling may also be offered as part of a redundancy package.

Rip /rip/ transitive verb

In colloquial use, especially in North America: to attack verbally; to criticize severely. Probably a shortened form of the colloquial phrasal verb rip into, first recorded in Australian English in the forties, which has the same sense. This punchy and expressive verb has been recorded since the early eighties. 

Sports:

BASE jump /'beis džΛmp/ noun and verb

  Intransitive verb: To make a BASE jump.

The acronym BASE is formed from the initial letters of Building, Antenna-tower, Span, Earth. The strong formative and semantic influence of the noun base in its standard senses is reflected in the increasing occurrence of the acronym in lower case.

The phenomenon of BASE jumping is thought to have started in the US in the very late seventies. The locations sought by base jumpers include high buildings, the antenna-towers of radio stations, the spans of high bridges, and the cliffs provided by the earth itself. As the sport took hold records were set for the lowest possible jump, at one time recorded as 190 feet. By the nineties the activity had spread to the UK. It appears to be shunned by the British Parachute Association.

Freeride /'fri: rΛid/ verb and noun

Intransitive verb: to ride on a snowboard designed for all-round use; to practice free snowboarding on and off piste without taking part in races or performing tricks.

In the nineties, freeriders and their chosen pursuit of freeriding testify to the growing popularity of snowboarding as one of the extreme sports of the decade.

Three-peat /'Øri: pi: t/ verb and noun

Transitive or intransitive verb: In the US: to win (a particular championship or other event) three times, especially consecutively. A blend of three and repeat.

Three-peat derives from American basketball slang, and is first recorded in 1988; since then there is some evidence for the term becoming part of the more general sporting vocabulary. Contextually, and perhaps inevitably, references to three-peats are found more often as future hopes than achieved successes. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Conclusions

  New words and expressions or neоlоgisms are created for new things irrespective of their scale of importance. They may be all-important and concern some social relationships, such as a new form of state, e. g. People’s Republic, or something threatening the very existence of humanity, like nuclear war. Or again the thing may be quite insignificant and short-lived, like fashions in dancing, clothing, hairdo or footwear (e. g. roll-neck). In every case either the old words are appropriately changed in meaning or new words are borrowed, or more often coined out of the existing language material either according to the patterns and ways already productive in the language at a given stage of its development or creating new ones.

  Thus, a neologism is a newly coined word or phrase or a new meaning for an existing word, or a word borrowed from another language.

  The intense development of science and industry has called forth the invention and introduction of an immense number of new words and changed the meanings of old ones, e. g. aerobic, black hole, computer, isotope, feedback, penicillin, pulsar, quasar, tape-recorder, supermarket and so on. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

List of literature used

1.Арнольд И. В. Лексикология современного английского языка: Учеб. для ин-тов и фак. иностр. яз. — 3-е изд., перераб. и доп. — М.: Высш. шк., 1986. — 295 с., ил. — На англ. яз.

2. Антрушина Г. Б., Афанасьева О. В., Морозова Н. Н. А72  Лексикология английского языка: Учеб. пособие для студентов. — М.: Дрофа, 1999. — 288с.

3.Теоретическая грамматика английского языка: Учебник. Для студентов филол. фак. ун-тов и фак. англ. яз. педвузов. — М.: Высш. школа, 1983.— с. 383 В пер.: 1 р.

4. Гальперин И. Р. Стилистика английского языка. Учебник . – 3-е изд. – М .: Высш. Школа, 1981. – 334 с.

5. Єфімов Л. П., Ясінецька О. А. Стилістика англійської мови і дискурсивний аналіз. Учбово методичний посібник. – Вінниця: НОВА КНИГА, 2004. – 240

6. Дубенко О. Ю. Порівняльна стилістика англійської та української мов. Посібник для студентів та викладачів вищих навчальних закладів. – Вінниця:НОВА КНИГА, 2005. – 224 с.

7. Бєлозьоров  М.В. абревіатури-неологізми в англійській мові та їх переклад на українську мову // Вісник  Сумського держ. ун-ту. Сер. філол. наук. -  Суми: Вид-во СумДУ,2001.- №5(26).- С. 9-13

8.The international dictionary of neologisms;  internet site: http://www.neologisms.us/

9. Online dictionary of neologisms; internet site: http://www.ats-group.net/dictionaries/dictionary-neologisms.html

10 Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia; internet site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neologism 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

  

  
 

List of literature used